Time Turned Troubles
by BlondieTwilightFreak
Summary: Nightmares and Secrets Sequel. Rory Potter, with her friends and family, returns. What will happen when a certain DADA professor meets her and she's the splitting image of Lily? What about the dementors? New relationships will be formed. Will they last?
1. Travelling to Hermione's

**I don't own Harry Potter, or anything from that universe, the AMAZING Joanne Rowling does. I cannot claim ownership of any of it :'(**

**By the way, to understand this, you need to go read Nightmares and Secrets first, so click on my name and read it now. If you already have, hello again, dear reader :) Thank you for coming back :)  
**

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I couldn't believe it! It was finally the Summer Holidays! After the whole Chamber of Secrets incident, I kind of struggled to think that it could be normal. But, it was.

Hermione was quite disappointed at the tests being cancelled, but then, of course, I reminded her that we both needed to catch up, and we'd probably have to do some extra tests next year, and we could use each other's help catching up. She was back to the Hermione I knew and loved in no time.

Originally, Hogwarts was supposed to break up on my birthday, Friday 16th July, but after the incident, Dumbledore decided that we needed more treats than just no exams, so there was also a train leaving on the Monday, for students who could arrange for pick up for then. If they couldn't then they would get the Friday train, as originally planned. Harry was one of the few students who had to stay.

Most people had given me my birthday presents before we got on the train. I put them into my trunk, which had to be modified with spells to keep it light, but be able to fill more into it. It took some work to do, but I did it with one of my best friends, so it was fun. If I hadn't have put them in there, I knew that I would open them all before my birthday, which would kind of spoil the fun in everything. Well, in the surprise, I mean. I may have wanted to open and or look at them, but I didn't. That took a lot of self control on my part.

We had agreed that he would keep Kitty during my stay with the Grangers, and I provided him with all of the things he would need, but Harry, stubborn as he was, tried to refuse taking them. That time, I got my way. I won't quite say how, but it is slightly possible that I threatened him a little bit.

I was keeping Quinn, mine and Chris's owl for the whole trip. I named little Quinn after I became somewhat a Glee fan, plus it seemed to fit, otherwise I'd have ended up naming her either Owlie or Aphrodite, but in the end, out of the names Quinn and Mercedes, and Quinn won. I was going to send her ahead to France when we went, and she would be waiting for us at the holiday home, which we would only really be sleeping in, because we were taking the Grangers' car, and it would be a sightseeing holiday. Hermione and I had even found a few magical locations for us to visit. Hermione's parents would only be able to come because they were her parents. Any other Muggles wouldn't be allowed. We were also spending a couple of days at Disneyland. I was happy that Mr and Mrs Granger had agreed to my staying an extra few days. I suppose they were mainly glad that their daughter finally had a girl for a friend, a girl who connected with her in ways other girls never had before. Like through magic and intelligence.

I was not friends with Christabelle. She never even bothered to talk to me anymore, and she was now Draco Malfoy's best friend! I was surprised that she hadn't received an invitation to spend some time at Malfoy Manor, but maybe that was a good thing. I didn't want her to get to cosy with the enemy. Well, Harry's enemy.

Another interesting development with my sister was that we were not identical. When I had Luna drink some of my Polyjuice Potion, she turned out identical to me, ginger hair and green eyes, rather than the way Hermione had turned out as a blonde haired blue eyed girl, the image I was so used to believing I looked like, but I no longer did. I didn't mind though. It was interesting to be original, especially when she was the alternative. I did wonder though, why did my mother, Laura Ollivander, insist on us being identical before giving us away?

When I stepped off the train, I gave Luna, Ginny, Jen, Neville, and a protesting Ron one final goodbye hug.

"Bye! See you soon! Promise you'll write or email me, and I do mean all of you, Ron. Have a good holiday! Ginny, Ron, I hope you have a nice time in Egypt! I expect pictures, news, the works, okay?"

"Bye Aura!" Neville said, waving away.

"Bye Rory!" Ginny and Luna said, in canon.

"Bye!" Ron and Jen said.

"Come on, Hermione; let's go find your parents."

I took one final look at my friends before taking my cart of luggage, plus Quinn, and walking through the barrier with Hermione. She said that her parents would probably be waiting for her in the car park, like they usually did. Muggles couldn't get through the barrier, and it'd look rather suspicious if there were loads of people gathered around a wall waiting for people to emerge from it, right?

So, we took the trolleys out to the car park, and sure enough, a loving looking couple were stood there waiting for us. They even held a sign that said 'Hermione and Aurora' so that I would know who to look for, rather than waiting for Hermione to find them, then me following. I appreciated it. A lot.

Hermione ran up to her parents, and they hugged her immediately. Obviously they had found out about her being petrified, so it must have been hard for them seeing as they weren't able to visit her at all, and obviously she couldn't write them either.

"Hi mum, hi dad, this is Rory. She's the friend I've been telling you about." Hermione said, gesturing to me, not that there was any need, I was stood right next to her.

"Hello, Mr and Mrs Granger. It's nice to meet you. I can't wait for the holiday! But Hermione and I are going to be taking some of our work with us, we need to catch up. Plus, we'll need to revise. Oh, and with the help of my laptop, as Hermione may have mentioned earlier, we've completely planned the entire trip."

My laptop was also permanently modified to not need Wi-Fi, or electricity for that matter, ever again. It was easier to use an irreversible spell than one I would need to use every time I turned my laptop on in Hogwarts. It now ran on magic. And, because I had done the magic at Hogwarts, I wasn't breaking any rules, the same applied to my trunk. And, obviously, I couldn't be punished for my Metamorphmagi abilities because, well, I couldn't help it. The Accidental Magic Reversal Squad would be sent if anyone saw.

"Wow, honey, you were right, it's like we've got 2 Hermiones here for most of the summer!" Mr Granger said.

"You're sure it's okay me staying this long, Mr and Mrs Granger? I mean, I can always stay with Ginny and Ron again for a while, and then go to Harry's."

"Its fine, honey. Now come on, the car's over here." Mrs Granger said.

Hermione and I sat on the backseat with Quinn's cage beside me. We talked the whole way back to her house. It was a very long journey, but it was worth it. Hermione had a huge collection of books. And her room was perfect! I seriously would have loved to have lived there.

I had just enough time to unpack and give Mrs Granger my presents to hide before dinner. Thankfully, Hermione had notified her parents of my vegetarianism, and they made a vegetarian lasagne, which they ate too. Well, there wasn't much point in making 2 different dinners now, was there?

After dinner, I wrote to Luna, Neville, and Harry. I planned on writing to Lexi, Bella and Buffy too, but I didn't have enough time. I was exhausted after my long day of travelling, and Hermione was too, so we had an early night.

Unfortunately, I still needed my father's sleeping draught. Otherwise, I either couldn't get to sleep, or I had many nightmares. That was why he had sent me more than enough to last the whole summer. Well, it was better than risking running out, at least.

I soon settled into a peaceful, dreamless, rejuvenating sleep.

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**I said my update would be quick, right :)**

**Can't guaruntee much updating over the next few weeks, school's back :(**

**Who's getting Alice in Wonderland tomorrow? 'Tis amazing! :D I definately am!**

**Kaisha :) - A SHORT A/N**


	2. Letters between friends

I don't own Harry Potter, or anything from that universe, the AMAZING Joanne Rowling does. I cannot claim ownership of any of it :'(

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I woke up refreshed, and it was only 6am! I was surprised to find that I had a few letters waiting for me at the windowsill, but I expected to get replies, yes, just not that quickly.

The first letter was from my brother.

_Dear Rory,_

_Kitty insists on sleeping in your bed still, and she misses you already. I'm going to send your present along on Thursday Evening because I don't think I'll have time on Friday. Besides, I'm not sure Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon would allow it. They hate when I send Hedwig out, in fact, I wasn't allowed to let her out of the cage at all last summer! Until, course, Ron, Fred and George came in the car, and you know the rest. Glad to see you're doing well! Hope you don't have to join me and the Dursleys too soon. _

_Your brother,_

_Harry. _

The second was a reply from Luna.

_Aurora, _

_Make sure the nargles don't steal your presents before Friday or in France either. Father says that there are many nargles in France this time of year. I'm also going to send you some spectrespecs along later, so you can see the wrackspurts in people's brains. They're quite fun, plus you can see people who don't want to be seen. You never know what you'll find! It's a shame that Hermione's house isn't connected to the floo network really, because I'd love for you to come over later this week. Is there any way you could come? Please reply soon, even with all the wildlife here, it can get terribly boring very quickly. _

_Your friend, _

_Luna. _

That was sweet of her. Now I thought about it, it would be possible for me to go visit her. Of course, I'd have to take the knight bus both ways, but that was okay. Maybe on Thursday? That was in the middle of our birthdays. After I had read the rest of my letters, I would reply, telling her that.

The third letter was from Neville.

_Aura, _

_I'm glad you wrote to me earlier, otherwise I would have worried that you had gotten yourself into trouble again. Not long till you're 12 now, is it? I would write more, but Gran thinks I'm asleep. I don't want her finding out that I'm not. Please keep me updated. _

_Neville_

The fourth and final letter was from my three older sisters.

_Rory, _

_Hope you're doing well, Aunt Debbie was so pleased to hear that we found our other sisters, but she didn't have much time to chat, she's got far too many children to look after. Uncle Toby tries to help, but he has too much work to do. Mum doesn't even consider helping, and she lives with us! She never looked after us very well either, but at least Aunt Debbie does her best. I'm glad we live with her. Debbie is genuinely sorry that you couldn't come live with us, but she can barely cope as it is. It's quite obvious at who got all the motherly genes in the generation above us, we managed to find Chris on the train home, but she said no. The invitation's still open to you, though. Reply soon. _

_Lexi, Buffy, and Bella. _

It was very sweet of them all to write, and I decided to reply after breakfast, when I would ask about the visits on Wednesday and Thursday. I was sure it would be okay, though. But between 6am and breakfast, I could reply to Neville, informing him about the visit Luna and I had planned, and inviting him too. Well, we were all best friends, so it would be fine with Luna, I was sure of it.

_Neville, _

_Don't go sneaking around your Gran's back just to write to me! I'm not worth you risking getting into trouble with her. On the positive side, I've been invited to Luna's on Thursday, so, do you want to come too? I'm sure it would be okay with Luna, so if your Gran says yes, I'll owl you will the details. Well, Hermione should be waking up soon, and hopefully you'll get this before long, so owl me back as soon as you can. _

_Aurora Potter_

I was right. Not five minutes after I had sent Quinn along with the letter, Hermione did wake up. Well, sort of. She was awake, but she was tired, so she stayed in bed for a while.

"Hi, Hermione. Sleep well?"

"No, not really, but it will all be better soon. In a while, mum and dad will be up, anyway. Mum's probably up already; she has to go to work this morning. That's how it normally works, they alternate shifts, so they don't have to leave me alone for too long. Obviously there's time when they're swapping over, so I'm alone then. When I was little, they would take me along for their change of shifts, so I wouldn't be alone for a second. Apparently, when I went there as a toddler, all the other staff there would pick me up, take me away and show me off. I was a cute baby." She seemed happy to reminisce about that, and she smiled.

"You sound like you were a very loved child." I said.

"Yeah. Of course, school was different. I was one of the only children who insisted on bringing her book to the playground. I didn't really... fit in with the muggles. I guess I know why now. "

"It was almost always just Christabelle and I when we were in primary school. It was more of the fact that I didn't fit in. She would have, but I just needed her. I did have a few friends, though, but the only one who was almost my best friend died tragically after being hit by a car... the car which also hit Chris, but she was only put into in a coma. I however, wasn't so lucky. I saw it all. Not pretty." I shuddered at the memory. I didn't like bringing it up very much. In fact, other than my mentioning it to Luna in my first year of Hogwarts, this was the first time I had brought it up in conversation since I was either 8 or 9.

Hermione understood that it was a touchy subject, so she tried to think of a good subject that we could change the conversation to. To do this, she first got up, and put her dressing gown on.

After a short while of silence, Hermione finally seemed to have something to say. "What about if we go downstairs for a while? I mean, we can have breakfast or something and just... well, relax. We can read or watch a film or see if there's anything good on TV, which I doubt seeing as it's just after 6am. We could even go for a walk if we were having one of those lovely insane moments."

I smiled. She had succeeded at cheering me up.

We went downstairs, and we each had a bowl of cereal. I didn't always have breakfast, but for some reason, I was craving cereal that morning.

I really couldn't wait much longer to ask about the trips to see my friends and my sisters over the following 2 days, so I was relieved when both Mr and Mrs Granger came into the kitchen.

"Um, excuse me, I know this is terribly last minute, but I've been invited out to see friends and family tomorrow and Thursday, and I was wondering if I could go. I can get myself there and back, and Hermione can come too, so I don't have to leave her alone. But, you see, I need to know now so that I can owl back Buffy, Bella and Lexi for tomorrow, and my friend Luna for Thursday. Tomorrow, I'd be meeting my aunt for the first time, and Thursday I'd be celebrating both mine and one of my best friends' birthdays, so, you see, they're hard for me to miss. I only found out this morning."

Mr and Mrs Granger looked at each other for a moment, pondering whether I could go or not. Finally, after a minute or so of silent deliberating, Mrs Granger finally spoke up.

"Well, I don't see why not, but you'll have to call us when you arrive at these places and before you leave, so we know you're safe, of course. And you're right; I would like Hermione to go with you. That is, of course, if you want to. I won't force you to, honey."

"No, its fine, I don't mind." Hermione said. "But are you sure it's okay with your sisters and Luna?" She asked me.

"I don't know... but, if it isn't, I will make it okay, Hermione."

"I wouldn't want to impose..."

"Hermione, don't worry! You won't be! Now, if you'll all excuse me, I have some friends that I need to send letters to."

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Well, yeah, that's it. School tomorrow, and I'm in the middle of my homework. Please review so I know that my time was not wasted. I'll keep it pretty short, and quick. I'll be going over the trips, but skipping the rest of the holidays. We'd all be bored to tears if I went over France and everything over the summer holidays.

Also, on a completely unrelated subject, I have this friend, who I really don't want to be friends with anymore, but it's so hard not to be friends with her. What should I do?

Thank you.

Review away :)

Kaisha :)


	3. Auntie and GreatGranddad

**I don't own Harry Potter, or anything from that universe, the AMAZING Joanne Rowling does. I cannot claim ownership of any of it :'(**

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The next morning came along quickly. Bella, Buffy and Lexi didn't mind Hermione coming with me. After all, I was only eleven at the time, compared to Hermione's 13.

Hermione and I left the house after breakfast, at 10 am. We each had a bag with us, as Mr and Mrs Granger said we could sleep over, which we would. For this reason, I also brought Quinn with me. Besides, if we slept over, it made it easier for getting to Luna's, we didn't need as much bus money. Aunt Debbie had 7 children to look after already, a job, 3 dogs, and a husband who constantly worked. She worked too, in a part time job, but she didn't have much to worry about because she had a lot of help from my three older sisters, and for the day ahead, me and possibly Hermione. It really wasn't fair though, that her own sister, who _lived _with her wouldn't help. She didn't even help very much in raising her own children, aside from buying things for them, but that was no excuse.

Hermione and I caught the Knight Bus from right in front of her house. It wasn't like it would have made any difference in the cost if we caught it elsewhere, so we caught it there.

It was a fairly short journey, mainly due to the extremely high speeds that the bus was travelling at. To be honest, it was a good job that I had taken my sickness pill, otherwise there would have been vomit all over the bus. Not cool. Mind you, Stan would have probably been able to clean it up with a flick of his wand.

We were dropped off at the top of a street near Diagon Alley, in London. My Aunt, Uncle, sisters and cousins, and my mum lived at number 6. Hermione and I didn't have long to walk, then.

The house was fairly simple, and not very small, obviously. Well, how much use would a small house be to a household of 10?

I reached the door, and paused. Was I really ready for this?

"Do you want me to knock for you, Rory?" Hermione asked me.

"No, 'Mione, this is something I have to do myself."

I breathed in, and knocked.

"Be right there!" I heard someone call.

A few seconds later, a tall, sort of brunette woman, carrying a baby, answered the door.

"Yes?"

"Are you Debbie?" I asked.

"Yes, I am. Who are you?"

"I'm your niece, Aurora Potter, and this is my friend, Hermione."

"Oh, come in! I forgot you were coming, ever so sorry. No wonder you look so familiar, have you ever been told that you look like Lily Evans?" She asked, opening the door wide enough to let us in.

"Yeah I've heard that before, and I know I'll hear it again." I said, entering the house just after Hermione, even though I was closer to the door.

"Well, you do look like her identical twin. Your sisters are in the living room with your 3 other cousins. Odd, this is. Our family just can't stop having twins. Sometimes identical, sometimes not, almost always girls, sometimes even triplets. I don't know what your sister looks like, so tell me, are you identical or fraternal? Oh, and this is your youngest cousin, Amber, by the way."

"Fraternal. We thought we were Identical, but then we turned out to be metamorphmagi, and with Polyjuice Potion on my friends, I discovered I was the doppelganger of Lily, and my sister, well, she naturally looks like this." I said, turning into my oh-so-familiar ex-appearance, and a few seconds later, back into my normal appearance.

"I don't know if I'll ever get used to that. Leave your bags here, I'll take care of them later. You don't mind sharing a room do you?"

I looked to Hermione, and she said, "Its fine, Rory's used to it. I'm used to it. Don't worry."

"That's good. Well, living room's right through there, Buffy, Bella and Lexi are playing with your cousins, Rory, and I'll be in in a few minutes." She said, pointing to a door.

"Thanks Aunt Debbie." I said, going into the living room with Hermione.

I opened the door, and saw two toddlers watching a kid's program on TV. Bella and Lexi were sat with them, whilst Buffy was sat on a chair, holding a baby boy.

"Hi Rory, hello Hermione. Anyway, Rory, these are your cousins, Andrew, Hayleigh, and Hannah. Andrew's the only boy born into this family since our Granddad. He married the woman who bought twins into the family. Not that we mind that much. Speaking of relatives, we were thinking of going to see our great-granddad later at his wand shop. You want to come with us? Oh, you can come too, of course, Hermione." Buffy asked.

"I'd like that. So our great-granddad is the very famous wand-maker, right?" I asked.

"Yes, he is. Sometimes mum helps him, and Granddad almost always goes out to get wand components with him. Mum helps a bit, but... she can get a bit lazy sometimes."

A few minutes later, Auntie Debbie entered the living room.

"I see you've met your cousins then, Rory. The dogs are outside; walking themselves right now, but you can see them later. I'm afraid I must go out to Diagon Alley now, so I'm taking you all to see your Great-Granddad." She said. "I'm sure you've met him before, Rory, he probably issued you your wand. I hope you don't mind, Hermione."

"Not at all. In fact, I would like to go buy some books for some light reading, anyway, so would it be alright if I went to Flourish and Blotts for half an hour?"

"I suppose that would be alright. As long as you do go to the wand shop afterwards." Debbie replied.

Hermione nodded excitedly.

"Oh, while you're there, do you mind buying me my school books. They're exactly the same ones that you're having, so it's easy enough."

"Oh, if you're picking up books, could you pick ours up too? We're all taking Care of Magical Creatures, Lexi is taking Ancient Runes and Divination, Bella is taking Divination and Muggle Studies, and I'm taking Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. I mean, you don't have to, but it would be a little easier if you did... so could you get the books?" Lexi asked.

"Well, I don't see why not..." Hermione said.

"We'll be leaving in ten minutes. I'll get Amber ready, but do you five mind getting Drew, Hayleigh and Hannah ready? I wouldn't ask, but I'm really pressed for time."

"I don't see why not, Auntie." I said.

"Perfect. If you have any troubles, Lexi will help you out. She's good with the babies." Debbie said before rushing off.

"Okay, Rory, do you have any experience with babies?" Lexi asked.

"A little bit, I guess..."

"Okay... right, I'll help Hermione, with Drew, Bella, who's absolutely useless, will be watching whilst Buffy sorts out Hannah, and can you try and deal with Hayleigh? Don't worry, Hayleigh is the easiest of our cousins to look after if you need any help, just ask me or Buffy." She said, leading Hayleigh over to me.

I watched as Buffy and Lexi both instantly knew what to do with their cousins, whilst I just sat there, a little bit perplexed. In all honesty my 'experience' with babies was limited to watching a friend's parent change a diaper.

Buffy saw that I was facing a little difficulty, and reunited the twins by taking Hayleigh off of my hands. Well, compared to me, she was like a professional.

Feeling a little disappointed with myself, I went and took a seat next to Bella.

"Don't worry, Aurie, some of us just aren't as good at being mothers as others. Maybe you'll learn... maybe I'll learn. We just don't know, I suppose. But for now, let's fail together." She said, holding out her hand.

I then took and shook my sister's hand.

"That's a new one... Aurie, I mean."

"Oh, do you want me to call you something else? I'm sorry; I just like giving random nicknames to people... for example, I sometimes call Lexi, Luther, you know, as in the villain from superman... sorry, we do watch too much TV. You're welcome to call me whatever you like if you hate Aurie, Rory..."

"No, no, Bells, it's okay. I really don't mind. You can call me whatever you like, heck, you can even call me by my one of my middle names or surnames and I wouldn't mind."

"In which case, you're more than welcome to call me Cassandra or Louise... if you like." Bella said.

"Okay, we're all ready now." Debbie said, peaking her head around the door.

Bella and I realised that none of our siblings, cousins, or Hermione were in the room, so we quickly went back into the hallway, to find two double buggies, each containing one set of twins.

We left the house soon after, and headed off to Diagon Alley.

"So, Aurie, which subjects are you and Hermione taking next year?" Bella asked. It was one of the questions I had been dreading. Mainly because, well, I didn't really know how to answer it. But, I did know that I wasn't supposed to tell them I was taking every class. That would get word of my time turner use out. And that wouldn't do any good at all, now, would it?

"Um... we're taking as many as good old Dumbledore would let us take..." I said. Now that wasn't a lie.

"Oh... okay. How many of my lessons will you be in?" She asked.

"All of them, I think..." I said.

"Wow! That's great! Sit next to me in something?" She asked.

"I'll try, Bells, I'll try."

Before we knew it, we were at our great-grandfather's wand shop. Hermione had hurried off to Flourish and Blotts, and Debbie was the first in the shop.

"Hello again, Granddad. I've brought over mine and 4 of Laura's children for a visit. She has 5, granddad, but one couldn't come, I'm afraid."

"Oh well, bring them in." I heard him say, "It will be nice to finally meet some more relatives. Besides, this shop needs a bit of organising. Maybe some of the older ones could help." He said.

"In you come, girls. Oh, and Andrew." Debbie said.

The prams went in first, followed by me and Bella.

"Ah, you must be one of Laura's daughters. Wonderful to have finally met you." He said, shaking my hand.

"We've already met. You got me my wand. Vine, 12 ½ inch with unicorn hair. Back then I was Rory Jenkins. Now, I'm Rory Potter."

"Ah! I remember you!" Great-Granddad said, "How lovely to have you in my family."

"I skipped a year in Hogwarts, and everything! Oh, and I'm very good friends with my brother, who you aren't related to, Harry Potter. In fact, one of our mutual friends, Hermione is busy book shopping for now, but soon she'll be here! We have such exciting things to tell you! We can tell you about the basilisk, well, I can, she was petrified, and she can tell you about last year, with the Philosopher's Stone."

"You do sound very eager. Well, providing I don't get too many customers, we're going to have a very enjoyable time, aren't we?" He asked.

I nodded in reply, and turned around just in time to see the door shut from my aunt's departure.

After that afternoon, I was always excited to go see my great-granddad. He was one great man.

* * *

**Sorry I took so long to update! I have had a load of things come up recently, so I've been amongst other things, busy with exams, ill (still have that stomach bug), stuck at my mum's house (grandparents were in Tunisia), and suffering from writers block!**

**I really need cheering up :/ Please review and help me cheer up :/ Think of the updates!**

**I would also appreciate it if you would ask me questions from time to time, obviously I wouldn't be able to answer ones that might spoil things as easily, but I would definately answer as well and as much as I could!**

**I'm not a happy bunny, and I need reviews!**

**Kaisha**

**Oh, and P.S I've decided not to be friends with it any more. We just don't get along, plus if you knew her, you'd probably do the same thing. **


	4. Luna's House

**I don't own Harry Potter, or anything from that universe, the AMAZING Joanne Rowling does. I cannot claim ownership of any of it :'( Sorry for the late update, and for being a bitch the last few chapters. Longer apology at the bottom.**

* * *

The next morning, I woke up feeling very refreshed. I had a dream that night too, but it was nothing major. It was nothing even close to a nightmare, that's for sure. It was more like a vision. A _happy _ one. I was so looking forward to that coming true, that's for sure.

I had breakfast with Hermione and my family, and we shared funny stories. It was a shame I had to go to Luna's but I wanted to. I had brought her another present, a living one, at Diagon Alley after spending some time with my great-grandfather. It was a good idea of mine though. I mean, a necklace wasn't enough for a friend as special as Luna.

I had also gotten a little extra something for Neville, which I would give him too. I was going to present them with their extra gifts shortly after arriving, so I wouldn't forget.

Hermione and I got our bags repacked, including our new things from Diagon Alley, seeing as we had done... a fair bit of shopping after meeting our great-granddad. We had gotten all of our school stuff, mainly because if we got it all ahead of time, less people would notice how many books we were buying.

We got on the Knight Bus just after 10:30. Hermione and I sat together on the very dangerous chairs on the knight bus, and talked. It wasn't like there was anything else to do, was it?

When we arrived in Ottery St. Catchpole, for a moment, I considered pooping off to see Ginny and Ron, unfortunately, I then remembered that _she _was with them. So, I decided against it, and walked straight past the Burrow, and down to Luna's.

I knocked on the door and waited. A few seconds later, Luna opened the door.

"Ah, Rory, I thought it was you. Neville came down about half an hour ago. Come in, my father is just out looking for something. I forget what..." she said, opening her door.

"I got you another present, Luna!" I said, going into her house with Hermione.

"Really? Well, you can sort that out later; for now, there are drinks and snacks available in the living room, with Neville. It's the room on the right." Luna replied as we walked into the house. I thanked her, and took my bags into the living room.

Neville was sat on an earthy-looking sofa, and eating food from a table which looked as if it was still a tree. It was a very nature based house. Well, at least that is what I figured.

I got out Neville's presents; some helpful books in the subjects he struggled in; some things for Trevor; a little girlfriend for Trevor, obviously the box was charmed so the toad wouldn't die; some things for Trevor's new companion; and a framed photo of Neville and I from the last time we had gone out somewhere together. Then, I got out Luna's presents, a pet bat, some things for her bat, some jewellery, non-animal tested make-up and new hair accessories, and deposited all of them on Luna's coffee table/tree type thing, ready to give away shortly.

A few minutes later, Luna slipped in.

"Well, a belated happy birthday from me." I told her, handing her the presents I had gotten for her, "You might want to open these quite quickly; you've got a new pet," I turned to Neville, "You too."

"Really?" He asked, grabbing his presents off of the table.

"Yes, really. I'm sorry, but you do have to open yours now, I don't want your new pet to die... Actually, I could tell you what to open now and what to open later. Would you like that?" I asked.

He nodded, and I gave him the gift of the toad and the things he would need to look after said toad.

We exchanged gifts, and spent some time looking at and after the nature in and around Luna's house before I went to Hermione's with Hermione. I did not meet Xenophilius Lovegood on that occasion.

* * *

**Sorry about the length but I really struggle with chapters set with Luna. Hence why originally, Chris and Rory's first summer was set at Luna's but I ended up having to change it to the Weasley's. Bet you didn't know that. **

**I'm sorry to have caught you all in the shit going on between me and Jess right now. It's making me be really bitchy cause I'm stressed and stuff too... NOT GOOD. School shouldn't be giving us this much homework so close to my birthday and the end of the school year. If you agree, review! I'd also like to apologise, again, to one of my readers who got caught in the middle of one of our arguments last night. **

**Exciting News for the Twilight fans, I'm working on a One-Shot. Probably won't be out for a couple of weeks or months, but I'm working hard to get this, my school work, and TTT worked on right now. It's about Sisters-In-Law Bella and Alice. They go looking for their real family because they have amnesia (have had it for about... 12-13 years) and don't have a clue about who they really are. They hire a detective and stuff. They're trying to find out who they really are, you know, they're kinda bummed. Don't know their real names or ages. (They're assuming that they are about 26/27.) And... yeah. Any name ideas? Another bit for twilight fans, who saw Eclipse? It's Amazing! But I still can't wait for Deathly Hallows! :D**

**Next chapter will be ploaded the day it's set, Friday the 16th July 2010. My birthday. And Rory's. From then on it will be a bit further on in the future, starting with when she gets to Privet Drive after France avec Hermione :) But Chris won't be there. Any ideas about where she's gone? I know. Just curious to hear your ideas. Can't wait for time turner time to begin :D**

**I looked after year 6s yesterday :) Didn't have a single lesson:D They're so cute! And, the form me and my friend are looking after has plenty of nice people in it, so I don't need to worry. And on Frida I don't have any lessons either due to this enterprise day thing :D So happy :)**

**But then there's prefect duty! It's so annoying. You have it for all the break and all the lunch of the day, and you aren't allowed to eat on Duty! You're also alone, so you can't go off and eat! Fair? I think not.  
**

**No reviews? Disappointing... Actually, one of you is let off the hook for emailing me, and for being in the middle of the argument. If you don't review it makes me know that I'm a bad author :( **

**Please review. This is the end of a long rambly author note. Just review, okay?  
**

**Kaisha :)**


	5. Breakfast and Lunch

**I don't own Harry Potter, or anything from that universe, the AMAZING Joanne Rowling does. I cannot claim ownership of any of it :'(**

**Sorry this is so late, excuse at the bottom.**

* * *

Before I knew it, both my birthday and the intriguing trip to France had passed, and I was faced with spending the rest of the holidays with my brother, aunt, cousin, and uncle. Not Christabelle though, she had left the Dursley's house after a single day to go to, as Harry had told me, word for word, apparently, "Somewhere better, with people that understand me. Like... Oh, I don't know, maybe my best friend's house! Just stay here and be stupid, and eviller than old Mouldy!" Harry was confused by who she meant by 'Old Mouldy'. I, on the other hand, when I heard this, wasn't. All I wanted to know was; how did she know? Did she magically fly into my head at night?

I decided not to tell Harry who Christabelle was talking about, thinking it better that he didn't know about the war or it's victims, well, what I had managed to piece together from my dreams anyway.

I arrived at number 4 Privet Drive early in the morning, understanding that my help in the house would be much appreciated. I really didn't mind helping out a lot with the work in their household. I could have quite easily refused, but that would have been rude. I wanted Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon to have a good first impression of me, even though they would never like me no matter what I did. But to do this, I knew that huge sacrifices would need to be made.

I knocked on the front door, and waited for a few seconds for the door to open. It was opened by a tall, blonde, horse-like woman, my Aunt Petunia.

"We aren't buying, selling, or giving anything away, so leave." She said, without actually looking at me.

"I'm not buying or selling anything, Aunt Petunia. I'm your niece, Aurora." I informed her.

"Oh... well then, what do you want, you freak?" She asked disdainfully.

"I'm staying here for the remainder of the summer, ma'am... you've been told, haven't you? I can stay wherever you like, the cupboard under the stairs, for example, and I swear that I will do more than my fair share of chores, if you like." I promised. I had already accepted that this is what I would have to do to get to spend my school holidays... not homeless. But I didn't really mind. It would be a new experience for me. Besides, I could already cook and clean. My adoptive parents had seen to that at a young age.

"Urgh... get in then..." She said, opening the door just wide enough for me to squeeze myself and my suitcases through the door, without using my powers to reduce my size, of course. Although I would probably need to do that to fit in the cupboard under the stairs...

"The other freak is making food in the kitchen." She said, abandoning the door to rejoin her husband and son in their living room.

I opened the door to the cupboard under the stairs, only to find it full of Harry's Hogwarts things. So, instead of staying there, I realised that I would have to room with my brother, which was going to be a little odd, but at least I would have somewhere to sleep.

I easily picked up my charmed Hogwarts trunk, which now carried everything I owned quite easily, at took it up the staircase. Mind you, my suitcase could also quite easily contain all of Hogwarts castle and all of the students, teachers and things inside it too, so that wasn't saying much. I also took Quinn's cage upstairs with e, not wanting to leave her with the nasty Dursleys.

I knew to look for the door with a cat flap, because of both my visions, and what Harry had told me.

I twisted the door knob, and entered the room. The walls were white and bare, and the only furniture to be found there was a small bed, a desk, a bedside table, and a wardrobe, and, of course, Hedwig in her cage, and Kitty happily sleeping away on my brother's bed. There was no real room for me to sleep in there either, but it was better than nothing. Besides, I could just sleep in my trunk, if necessary.

I put my trunk beside Harry's wardrobe, and opened it. The first thing I took out was my handmade quilt from Molly, which I would be sleeping underneath. After that I took out a pillow which I'd had the sense to put in, and a few items of clothing which could act as a mattress. Or so I had hoped. Using those items, I then constructed a makeshift bed on the floor close to Harry's bed.

I took a few other things out, before making my appearance a little neater and joining Harry downstairs in the kitchen.

"Hi Harry..." I said. He was cooking a murdered pig in a frying pan, and turned around.

"Rory! Oh, I can't believe you're here! I'd give you a hug or something, but as you can see, I'm busy. They are having a late second breakfast soon." Harry said, before turning around to attend to the bacon.

"Have you done any scrambled egg yet?" I asked, wanting to get busy as soon as I could.

"Oh, no... Thanks for reminding me, I'll do that in a minute..."

"No need for that." I said, already on my way to the fridge.

I wasn't vegan, so I ate eggs, and I was rather fancying them myself, having skipped breakfast.

I took out a few eggs from the fridge, and got a mixing bowl and a whisk from a nearby cupboard. I carefully and individually cracked each of the eggs, making sure I got no shell in the mixture. I then thoroughly whisked them, and added a little bit of seasoning before getting a spatula and a frying pan and cooking the eggs. Harry had just finished the bacon, and was serving it onto a warm plate on the Dursley's overly large dining table at just the right time, so thankfully I had the stove to myself.

I instructed Harry to prepare the table with plates and cutlery for the Dursleys, because they were sure to be coming in at any second, and served the scrambled eggs, taking a portion for myself.

Before the Dursleys came in, I also put honey, jam, bread, butter, ketchup and other typical things and sauces on the table. I was surprised that they hadn't come in yet, so I decided that it would be best for me to inform my aunt, uncle, and cousin that their food was ready.

They were all sat on the sofa, watching a rather uninteresting television show I didn't recognise.

"Um... your food's ready..." I told them, although I was sure that they hadn't heard me, so I called Harry in.

"What do you want?" Uncle Vernon asked.

"My sister was just trying to tell you that your second breakfast so far today is served." Harry told them.

"Oh. We'll be there in a minute then. And since when did you have a sister? Your aunt's sister died before she had the chance!" Vernon laughed.

"Well, my rather obnoxious fraternal twin was here before, so you must already know, and we're only related by blood due to magic, which I'm not sure you would fully understand, I'm afraid." I replied

He scoffed, "No doubt the older brat did all the cooking."

"No, Uncle Vernon, I arrived about 15 minutes ago, and I made the eggs, and got sauces, salt, pepper, bread, butter and jam out and on the table. Harry made the cooked, murdered pig; the toast; and everything else." I said.

"Suppose we'd better eat before it gets cold then." He said, struggling a little to get up, and waddling into the room adjacent to the kitchen, the dining room, overtaken by his small fat son, no doubt excited to have even more food. Aunt Petunia, however, was a little bit slower in going to the kitchen, almost as if something was troubling her. Harry and I, however, didn't pay any attention to this.

I was just about to start on the washing up after eating the eggs which I had set aside for myself, which were delightful, before I heard Uncle Vernon shout, "More eggs, girl!"

It looked like a girl's work was never done for the morning, even after 2 breakfasts.

After lunch, Harry and I finally had ten minutes to ourselves.

"So, where are you sleeping, then?" He asked.

"My first plan was the cupboard under the stairs," I told him, "But it seems to have new occupants, so I'm sleeping on your floor..." I told him fairly bluntly.

"My floor?" He clarified.

"Just next to your bed, Harry. It's the only option I've got seeing as Aunt Marge is arriving tomorrow."

"I can't let you do that, you're the guest, and my sister, Aurora. You're taking the bed, and I'm taking the floor."

"Harry, it's only for a couple of weeks, I'll be fine."

"No, Rory, I'll be fine on the floor."

"Harry, I'm not letting you do that for me."

"Well, I' taking the floor, Aurora, and there's not enough room for two down there, so you're taking the bed, and that's final."

I didn't know what to reply to that, so I simply sighed, and took over Harry's position at the sink.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Well, if I'm sleeping on the bed, then I'm going to be doing a lot of work to make up for it. And this time, I'm not taking 'No' for an answer."

"Two can play at that game..." He said.

"We shall see, brother, we shall see."

* * *

**Sorry this is late, but my Laptop went in for repair at Curry's so I'm stuck using an old slow pathetic thing till I get it back. Please forgive me. I had an okay birthday, and I know I said this was going to be Rory's birthday,but I just wasn't able to get stuck into that chapter, so I deleted it, and started working on this instead. I'm part way through the next chapter (Aunt Marge), and ou'e seen a few little clues about how Christabelle is differnet, and unless you can piece together any clues I give you, I don't think you'll know for quite some time. Unless of course, you're Jess. Don't spoil it for anyone!**

**It's summer now, so hopefully there will be quite frequent updates, seeing as I have no plans whatsoever, leaving plenty of writing time, watching DVD time, and brainstorming time. **

**For example, I now know the name of the next installment, some of the things (which are different) that will happen in that year, what will happen the year Rory can't go, where she, her boyfriend, and her friend will hide, Rory's alias, but not her boyfriend's and friend's. Ideas? Of course this will change a few things at Hogwarts too. I also know (roughly) where the people who will live who didn't live before will stay till after Mouldy Voldy's death. **

**Who has Chris gone to stay with? Remember, of the two votes I got, the vote was for Chris to secretly hook up over the summer, and for Rory to hook up during this school year. So, yes, she's not at a girl's house, which, yes, is rather odd. **

**Well, I'd better go, finish chapter 6. See you later! :)**

**Kaisha :)**


	6. Aunt Marge

**I don't own Harry Potter, or anything from that universe, the AMAZING Joanne Rowling does. I cannot claim ownership of any of it :'(**

* * *

Aunt Marge arrived in the afternoon of the next day. Whilst Aunt Petunia was in the dining room with Dudley; Harry was busy in the kitchen, after insisting that he should do a little of the cooking; and I was waiting patiently by the door to open it upon Uncle Vernon and Aunt Marjorie's arrival.

Instead of waiting for the doorbell to ring, I opened the door just before they arrived at the door. It was quite a good job actually, because it was pouring with rain. Fat Uncle Vernon came through the door first, piling a great deal of things on my arms, followed by an even fatter Aunt Marjorie, and her small fat dog, Ripper. Aunt Marjorie handed me her umbrella and raincoat, which I then quickly put away. I could already hear her making a fuss over her little 'Neffy-poo' in the living room.

Harry had gone and dragged Marge's suitcase with him. I, on the other hand, was waiting by the living room door. Aunt Marge looked up, and, seeming a little confused, said,

"Got another brat have you? Where did this one come from?"

"Um..." Aunt Petunia didn't know what to say, so I intervened.

"I'm Harry's younger sister, Aurora. I was given up for adoption shortly after I was born, Ma'am." I told her. I then realised that I would have to lie slightly and make it believable, so I continued, "My adoptive parents died, unfortunately, and this was the only place I was able to go at such short notice. The family I'll be going to next have already been chosen but they're on holiday in Egypt. I didn't find out I had a brother until shortly before my adoptive parents died. He's shown me pictures of our parents, and it's rather amusing that I could be our mother's twin, and except for the eyes, Harry has an uncanny resemblance to our father. I'm very grateful that Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon took me in for the summer." That was mostly the truth, anyway.

"Now, Vernon, why isn't Harry a little but more like that? At least she has some sort of respect for us. Of course, I'd still put her in an orphanage if she had been on my doorstep. Just like you should have with the other brat. Where is he anyway? Has the other one been doing work, or has she been as lazy as him?"

"Yes, he's around somewhere. And, actually, she's made the majority of the food and done the majority of the cooking, which reminds me, she makes excellent eggs. She's also assisted in preparing your room."

"I'm impressed, Vernon. Where can I get one?"

"I don't know, Marge. I suppose we were just lucky."

I then returned to the kitchen, to continue preparing their Dinner. Aunt Petunia had already done the chicken, because Harry, apparently, was useless at it, and of course being a vegetarian, it was decided that I was also unfit for the job.

Harry had cut up the potatoes and the carrots and put them in salted water. Whilst he was busy doing everything else, I was to prepare the meal, a roast dinner, the kind normally reserved for Sundays.

Earlier that day, both of our Hogwarts letters had arrived. Hermione and I however, had already known which books I was to have, so I could buy them slightly more inconspicuously. I also had about 30 choices of who to have sign my Hogsmeade letter. Even though I was only 12, I was still allowed to go because the rule was that anyone in their third year or above was allowed to go, and seeing as I had skipped a year, well, I'd found a loophole.

If I saw Molly and Arthur in Diagon Alley on the way to Hogwarts, I would have them sign the letter, otherwise, I would have Dad sign it. If he wasn't sure, I was sure to persuade him to my point of view somehow. Well, I was certainly going to try.

Harry, on the other hand, just had to hope that he could agree to have Uncle Vernon sign his permission slip.

I was slaving over a pot of boiling salted water and potatoes, when I realised that I didn't know what I needed to make. So, I decided to ask.

I walked up to the living room, and saw the 4 of the Dursleys watching a program on the television.

"Excuse me, but what kinds of potato do you want? Bubble and squeak, mash, roasted, boiled, jacket? Or any combination?" I asked.

Uncle Vernon pondered it for a few seconds, before answering, "The first three."

I nodded, before walking back into the kitchen. I realised that I would need a few more potatoes to make 3 different types of potato for people who could easily eat more than enough food for the entire county.

So, I was faced with peeling and cutting up some vegetables. I hated knives.

I was just about to begin cutting and peeling the first potato with the knife I held at arm's length when Harry entered the kitchen.

"You know what, Harry? You're just the person I need right now. Can you peel and cut up these potatoes and anything else I give you?"

He nodded.

I walked over to the fridge and opened it, searching for vegetables to go in the Bubble and Squeak. I took out some cabbage, Brussel Sprouts, and another carrot. I took the carrot and cabbage over to my brother and decided to face preparing the Brussel Sprouts myself. I would be okay... I hoped.

I slowly and carefully took the knife and cut the stalks of the sprouts off. When I was finished, I disposed of the offending article, and continued to make dinner by pealing the sprouts.

When dinner was finally served, I kept the portions set aside for myself and my brother in the oven, because we had to be busy attending to them during their meal, which was utterly stupid in my opinion, but there you go.

Uncle Vernon was about to get up to serve Aunt Marge a 'small' brandy when I intervened, and took the bottle away from him.

"Let me, uncle." I told him, and poured a medium glass of brandy into her glass.

After I had taken away the brandy, Aunt Marge began to talk again, "Excellent nosh, Petunia. Usually just a fry up for me, what with 12 dogs."

_Well, Aunt Marjorie Dursley, hate to break it to you, but Harry and me cooked everything but the chicken, so unless you were complimenting the chicken, which I definitely doubt, you should be praising me! Wait, I can't get myself all worked up, don't want to expose my metamorphmagus abilities. _I thought. Obviously, getting mad would be a very bad idea.

"Well, I try my best, Marge." Petunia lied, smiling.

Marge lowered her half-empty glass to the ground, and her fat dog, Ripper approached it, and began to drink it, which was disgusting. "A little drop of brandy-brandy windy-wandy for Rippy-pippy-pooh?" She said, in a sickly sweet voice, which really didn't suit her.

Harry couldn't help but smirk, whilst looking right at them. I, on the other hand just managed to turn away at the right moment, so no-one noticed that I had smirked too.

"What are you smirking at?" Marge angrily asked Harry, and then she turned to her brother, "Where did you send the boy, Vernon?"

"Er... Saint Brutus' Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys. It's a fine institution for hopeless cases."

Aunt Marge seemed impressed, "And what about the girl, Vernon, where does she go?"

I then realised that neither of them would have a clue about what to say, so I answered instead, straight off the top of my head.

"I go to Lady Anne's. It's an all girl's boarding school. The morning is dedicated to the things we have to learn by law, and in the afternoon, we learn cooking, cleaning, and it's more of a finishing school." I lied. That really didn't describe Hogwarts, and neither did "St. Brutus'"

"Hmm. Do they use a cane at St. Brutus', Boy?" She asked.

"Oh yeah." He said sarcastically, "Yeah, I've been beaten loads of times."

"Excellent. I won't have all this namby-pamby-wishy-washy nonsense about not beating people who deserve it. You mustn't blame yourself about how that one turned out. It's all to do with blood, bad blood will out. What is it their father did, Petunia?"

"Nothing... he didn't work. He was unemployed." She said. The truth was, James didn't need a job. Both he and my second mother, Lily had come from wealthy families. They were also too busy hiding from Voldemort to be able to keep a job, anyway.

"And a drunk too no doubt?" She asked, although it was more of a false deduction, with her just asking for clarification. But how could she think that? He wasn't a drunk!

Harry slammed down the plate he was holding, "That's a lie!"

"What did you say?"

"I said that my father, James Potter, wasn't a drunk" He seethed. Marge's glass broke, obviously accidental magic on Harry's part.

Petunia squealed in shock.

"Don't worry. Don't fuss, Petunia, I have a very firm grip."

Vernon looked over to Harry, giving him a knowing, firm look, and said, "I think it's time you were getting to bed."

"Quiet, Vernon." She clicked her fingers, "Clean it up." She ordered.

Harry was about to clean it up, but I stopped him, "Uncle Vernon's right, Harry. You do seem a bit... just get some rest. I'll do this..." I told him, pleading with my eyes.

He sighed, but stayed at the back of the room, as I gathered myself enough to go anywhere near broken glass, even with a dustpan and brush.

As I began to clear up, Marge continued, "Actually, it's nothing to do with the father. It's all to do with the mother; you see it all the time in dogs." It had nothing to do with James or my mother! I couldn't believe what I was hearing! But, I had to keep my emotions in check. I couldn't risk exposing myself. But she had to continue, didn't she? "If there's something wrong with the bitch, then there's something wrong with the pup."

Harry threw something to the ground and yelled, "Shut up, shut up!"

Marge, clearly annoyed, and planning on teaching him a lesson, raised her index finger and she said, "Right, now let me tell you..."

She didn't get a chance to finish what she had to say, because her finger, then followed by her entire body began to swell. I was about to go calm Harry down, but I noticed that my previously simple ginger hair, had turned red and fiery, so I was not really able to show Marge, and I was forced to crawl under the table.

I couldn't see anything, due to being under the tablecloth, but I heard some shouting for Vernon.

A few seconds later, I heard a thud, right beside one edge of the table. Intrigued, I crawled over to that area, and peeled back the tablecloth.

I saw my cousin Dudley lying on the floor, as if he had been knocked out. Beside him, were two of the disgusting buttons from Marge's outfit.

So, I shook him, purely to check that he was okay.

"Dudley?" I whispered, "Dudley, are you okay?"

"Mummy?" Yeah, he was fine.

"No, it's me, your cousin Rory." I told him, thankfully, he had yet to open his eyes.

He then opened his eyes to take a look. His eyes widened almost as soon as he had.

"Your hair... and your eyes... they're..."

"Bright red, I know, I'll sort that out right now."

I shut my eyes, and concentrated on my regular appearance, and after I reopened my eyes, Dudley's eyes were even wider, so I could only assume it had worked.

So, I stood up, and brushed my dress down.

"I want more food."

"I'm on it, Dudley."

I didn't pay any attention to the events going on in the garden, where Marge was apparently flying, and instead concentrated on getting Dudley, the boy with a real black hole in his stomach, some more food.

"Chicken, potato, Yorkshire pudding, gravy, or whatever else you fancy?"

"Roast potato and chicken." He demanded.

"Coming right up." I told him, presenting him with a huge plateful of food around a minute later.

"Is that it?"

"I can't have any going to waste. You can always get more."

Vernon trudged back into the house, and Harry dived up the stairs a few seconds later. Obviously because he knew he was in trouble.

Vernon saw me, and approached me. "Bring her back!" He demanded.

"I can't. I don't know how, and I would get expelled from school if I did." I told him.

"I don't care! Because of that stupid brother of yours, I've just lost my sister! Where's he gotten to?" He shouted.

"I... Uncle, please stop shouting! You're making my emotions out of control!"

"I've already told you, I don't care!" He punched the wall, making the whole house shake.

I'd had enough. I pushed my way out of the room, and ran into the kitchen. I was becoming an emotional wreck, and I couldn't handle it. I just needed to know what to do next. Until I had any sort of idea, I decided it would be best to fill up the hunger in my stomach with my food. Odd, I know, but it's just the way I felt.

I took my plate from the slightly warm oven, and a fork from the correct drawer.

I ate sat beside one of the cupboards on the floor level. I was also crying, and I hated it when people saw me cry. It was also rather likely that my appearance had changed, and I really didn't want to know what it was. I didn't care either.

When I was just finished with my meal, I heard something heavy being dragged down the stairs.

I popped my head around the door to see Harry coming down the stairs with his trunk.

Vernon tried to block him, from leaving, by stopping him from getting off of the stairs.

"Bring her back. You bring her back now! Put her right!"

"No! She deserved what she got! She was insulting my family. Rory did so well to put up with that. How would you feel if it was your family getting insulted by a relative you already hated and had to pretend to like, or perhaps a relative you had only just met and were trying to get along with?"

He grabbed Harry's shoulders, trying to threaten him by shaking them slightly. My clever brother, however, turned the tables on him by pointing his wand at Vernon. Vernon felt very threatened by this, and backed away, allowing Harry off of the staircase.

"Keep away from me!" Harry ordered, slowly backing towards the door.

"You can't do magic outside of school!"

"You think so? Try me."

"They won't have you back now! No-one will! Little orphan Harry has nowhere to go."

"Actually, he does. He has friends who would be more than happy to take him in, or I now of a lovely inn belonging to a Wizarding Community where he could stay." I said.

Petunia and Vernon looked shocked when they saw me. "What the?" Petunia asked.

"It's a special ability of mine. I can change my appearance at will, or at my emotion's will." I told them, "Why, what do I look like?" I asked.

"Not good..." Harry told me, "Anyway, I'll be at that Inn. Just until there's somewhere more permanent..." He said, before walking right out of the door.

I knew then that I was going too. It wouldn't take me long to pack, and I would be on the Knight Bus before I knew it.

I calmly walked up the stairs, avoiding anything with a reflective surface, and straight into the room which Harry and I had to share.

I had kept most of my things in my magically enhanced trunk, so it would take me no more than 10 minutes to pack.

Kitty I would have walk beside me, and Quinn I would carry, I didn't like the idea of the two of them suffocating.

I pretty much just threw everything which belonged to me into my trunk. I didn't care about things getting creased. Unless it was fragile or breakable, in which case, I carefully placed those types of things into my suitcase.

After checking over all of the places I could have possibly put anything which belonged to me in Harry's room, I grabbed Quinn's cage, had my cat follow me, and lugged m trunk downstairs.

Oddly enough, Uncle Vernon didn't stop me from leaving. Well, I wasn't going to complain.

I decided to find an emptier place than Privet Drive to board the Knight Bus. Even though I knew that muggles were unable to see the Knight Bus, I still panicked, and preferred to board it in places that weren't crawling with muggles.

Before I went any further, I realised that it would be best if I, once more returned to my regular appearance. So, I did my best to let go of my anger and frustration and focused on my regular appearance. Ginger, green eyed me. _Just like Lily..._

I had the strangest feeling that I had to go to a nearby children's park. I didn't know why, but I decided to follow that instinct. And I went to that park.

Just I was turning the corner to go there, I saw the familiar purple flash of the Knight Bus going by, and I knew that Harry was safely aboard. I didn't want to interrupt his journey, so I decided that I would sit on my trunk for a while. It wouldn't be too long, especially seeing as the Knight Bus travelled at illegally and extraordinarily high speeds.

I stared straight ahead of me, just thinking, when I heard a low growl.

I hadn't been expecting that.

"Who's there?" I asked.

There was no response.

"Show yourself!"

I few seconds later, I heard heavy breathing and felt a presence behind me.

I was wary about turning around, frightened about who it could be. However, I still turned around. Intrigue can easily override fright in some cases.

My heart rate slowed when I saw a large, slightly scrawny, familiar black dog stood right behind me.

"Oh, Padfoot, thank goodness! That is you, isn't it? I've been wondering when I'd see you!" **(A/N I nearly left it here! You lucky people ****)**

The dog seemed confused. Well, he had every right to be.

"Don't worry, I know who and what you are, and I know that you're innocent. Can you please just transform into human form? We need to talk."

Begrudgingly, Sirius the dog walked through to the other side of a bush.

I followed him around the bush a few seconds later, and I found a dirty, raggedy Sirius sat up against the bush.

"Well then, what do we need to talk about?" He asked.

"Just things... you do know that Harry, when he finds out what Wormtail framed you for, will think you're guilty. And when he finds out you're his Godfather he'll want to kill you?"

"I expected that," he sighed, "Who are you?"

"I'm Aurora..." I paused, unsure of what to say next, "I'm Harry's psychic sister..."

He laughed.

"I'm serious! I've been having psychic visions in the form of nightmares since before I can remember."

"No, I can believe that you're psychic, but you can't be Harry's sister. James and Lily never had another child."

"Oh, right. It's complicated, but I'm not related to James, and Lily didn't give birth to me. I'm only related to Lily because of some enchantments my father put on my other mother who gave birth to me. Technically, I have 2 mothers and one father. You can tell that I'm related to Lily because of my appearance, just take a look if you don't believe me."

I went and walked beneath a streetlight, and turned towards where Sirius was. He gasped at the sight of me, and I returned to my place on the floor beside Uncle Padfoot.

Kitty was curled up on his lap, purring away. She was obviously clever enough to know that Sirius posed no danger to her.

"How do you...?"

"Whilst I may be a metamorphmagus, this is actually my natural appearance. Oddly enough though, 3 of my sisters are naturally blonde, and the other one has natural black hair. The only other one who is a metamorphmagus is my fraternal twin sister."

"You have four sisters? At least my godson is never alone."

"Actually, my older sisters, Bella, Buffy and Lexi live with my Aunt Debbie. My evil younger twin, Christabelle, and I live with Molly and Arthur Weasley. Christabelle and I were supposed to be here this summer because we had only just gotten them as our new guardians after our adoptive family mysteriously disappeared. Harry lives with the Dursleys. I'm sorry."

"Oh."

"Is there anything you want to know? Oh, before I forget, when you finally meet and he finds out you're the good guy, he'll need you to sign a letter that allows him to go on certain trips to a village. I'm the only one who knows you're innocent, and I believe you, and I'm on your side. We'll be in Diagon Alley until term begins, by the way."

"I don't think I need to know anything else, Aurora. You're the splitting image of Lily, you know? It will be nice to have a chance to get to know you properly. For now, you had better be following that brother of yours."

"Bye Uncle Padfoot, I'll see you soon." I said, before giving him a quick hug and heading to the side of the road.

I waved my arm, and soon after, I saw that familiar Bus approaching.

* * *

**Sorry that this is late! I really expected this to be out yesterday, but I didn't wake up till 12PM! And then I was out for nearly 4 hours.  
**

**As consolation, however, this chapter is about 2 1/2 times the length of a regular chapter. Don't expect this in the future! **

**Plots getting started. **

**Next chapter begins in the Leaky Cauldron. They've got a few weeks to get things done, then it's Hogwarts time! :)**

**Happy reading:)**

**Best get back to writing :)**

**Oh, and to that person who reviewed the last chapter, plus the rest of you, I agree, and I don't think it's the right time, in fact, I'm now seriously considering pushing back when Rory gets her boyfriend to the Yule Ball. I really do think they're too young. But I wouldn't know what to do with Chris because she's now at that boys house. I prefer to go with what people think for when I have more than one idea, so if anyone has any ideas, please tell me. I really don't know. **

**Your help is appreciated.**

**Kaisha.  
**


	7. The Leaky Cauldron

**I don't own Harry Potter, or anything from that universe, the AMAZING Joanne Rowling does. I cannot claim ownership of any of it :'(**

* * *

When I arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, I was surprised that Tom, the landlord, was there to greet me.

"Mr. Fudge would like to see you, Miss. Potter." He told me, before taking my owl and suitcase off of my hands.

I thanked Stan before getting off of the bus, and following Tom up the staircase. He was pleasantly surprised at the light weight of my trunk. I planned on removing those charms as soon as I had gotten to Hogwarts and unpacked some of my things. I wouldn't need them then anyway.

Tom led me up to where the minister for magic was staying, room 5.

He knocked on the door, and from inside, the minister shouted, "Come in, Tom!"

We both entered the room, Tom leaving my things on the other side of the door, and I was invited to take a seat.

Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, was waiting for me.

"Ah, so you must be Rory. I'm Cornelius Fudge, minister for Magic. And, as Minister, it is my duty, Miss Potter, to tell you that earlier this evening your Uncle's sister was found circling a chimney stack a little south of Sheffield. The Accidental Magic Reversal Department was despatched immediately, and she has been properly punctured, and her memory modified. She will have no recollection of the incident whatsoever, so that's that, no harm done. Although your brother confessed, there will be no further action taken. His actions were clearly accidental. I am, however, displeased with your actions tonight. What the two of you did was very irresponsible; no-one knew where you were! You could have been killed! Especially given the state of things..."

"You mean Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban Prison, even though he was innocent and should have been free to go anyway?" I asked.

"Sirius Black is guilty! How much do you know about him anyway?"

"Minister, I'm psychic. I've seen the real perpetrator. I've seen both the guilty and innocent party's dead bodies in my visions, and their deaths, along with countless others I care about. All of my dreams and visions have or will come true, sir."

"I'm willing to overlook that, but Black is guilty, Miss Potter. I have also taken the liberty of having your second year school books brought over."

I laughed.

"Hmm. What's so amusing?"

"I skipped my first year, sir. I'm going into third. Besides, I already have my books."

"Oh." He sounded disappointed, "Which subjects are you taking?"

"All of them. I plan on carrying them all forward to Newts as well."

"Hmm. Now, your brother has paid for your room, Room 12, next door to his. Good night."

"Good night, minister." I said, before exiting the Minister's room.

When I found room 12, I was surprised that my trunk was already inside.

Before finally drifting off to sleep, I placed my Quilt on my bed, and unpacked a little bit.

After all, it was my home for the next two weeks.

* * *

**Sorry about the length. **

**Can I just put in a request for reviews? I mean, I'll understand if I don't get them, but I might just decide not to update if I don't get any, or I might justbe too depressed to write.**

**Sorry about any mistakes. This dinoaur is very rubbish keyboard wise. I'm just not used to it anymore. **

**If you've got any ideas I can use, put them in a review or PM me :) I have a few myself, but most of them are for the Horcrux year.**

**Speaking of that, I'll need a few aliases that characters will be able to use when they go into hiding, both male and female. Maybe... 2 female and 2 male? **

**If you do I signed review I'll reply if I can :) **

**Kaisha :)**


	8. Hogsmeade Letter

I don't own Harry Potter, or anything from that universe, the AMAZING Joanne Rowling does. I cannot claim ownership of any of it :'(

* * *

The next two weeks went by in a flash. Before I knew it, it was the morning of September 1st, a Wednesday. I thought that it was a rather odd day to start school, but I didn't have a say in the matter, of course.

Every single day, I saw Harry look enviously at the Firebolts in Diagon Alley's Quidditch shop. I kept trying to tell him that he could borrow mine, and that he had enough money to buy at least 3000 Firebolts, but he refused to give in, reminding himself that he had a perfectly good Nimbus 2000.

It was 7am, 4 hours until we had to be on the train. Harry had woken me up for breakfast, and all of our stuff was packed and ready to go. We weren't going to check out until 10 am, at which time, we would take our trunks along with us to Kings Cross, awaiting the train on Platform 9 ¾. I wasn't going to let my brother miss the train this year.

Harry and I were having a rather odd discussion about broccoli, coming down the stairs, Kitty in my arms, when we saw them. Ron and Hermione were fighting over Hermione's new cat.

"I'm warning you Hermione, keep that bloody beast away from Scabbers, or I'll turn it into a tea cosy!" Ron threatened.

"It's a cat, Ronald. What do you expect? It's in his nature."

"A cat? Is that what they told you? Looks more like a pig with hair to me."

"That's rich coming from the owner of that smelly old shoe brush. It's alright, Crookshanks, just ignore the mean little boy."

Ron finally noticed the two of us, and said, "Harry!" What about me, then?

Hermione turned around and smiled, "It's so good to see you two again. I mean, I might have hugged you, but someone is insisting that I keep Crookshanks off of the floor." She said, glaring at Ron.

Even though he had been to Egypt oh so recently, Ron was still as pale as ever.

Ron and Harry sat on one side of the large table with food, and Hermione and I sat on the other. Harry wanted to hear all about Egypt. I wasn't quite so bothered; Egypt was just another place to go to. Besides, it was far too hot for me, I'd burn instantly. Europe was more of my forte, plus, an added advantage was less travelling time.

Ron was going on and on about how amazing he thought Egypt was, so Hermione decided to further continue their argument by saying, "You know the Egyptians worshipped cats, don't you?"

"Yeah, along with the dung beetles." Ron retaliated.

"Come on, Hermione, I'm sure we can find more intelligent conversation elsewhere." I said, getting up onto my feet.

"That sounds like a fine idea, Rory; even a pile of bricks is more intelligent than that."

We walked and talked for a minute or two, I told her about what had happened at the Dursley's, and what we had done over the past two weeks; and she told me about all the interesting studying she did, and how she got Crookshanks.

We were only walking around the table really, so we hadn't gone very far. On the second lap we bumped into Molly and Arthur.

"Good morning, Mr and Mrs Weasley." Hermione said, smiling.

I quickly set Kitty on the ground and gave each of them hugs, "Good morning Molly, good morning Arthur"

"Lovely to see the both of you, nice surprise, too." Molly replied.

I then remembered about the form which needed to be signed, "Oh, Molly, I have something which I need for you to sign. If I quickly run and get it, will you sign it?"

"I suppose, but what's it for?"

"It's my Hogsmeade letter..." I said, pointing out the obvious. Of course it was my Hogsmeade letter; I was going into third year.

"Oh, silly me, I forgot you'd skipped a year. Of course I'll sign it for you, just bring it down."

I was about to run up the stairs when I felt someone grab my arm.

"What is it?" I asked Arthur.

"Can I have a quick word?"

"If this is about Sirius, then believe me that I know more about him than you. You were going to warn Harry that you think he wants to kill him, and then tell him not to go looking for him, leaving out the fact that he's his godfather. Believe me, I know. Is there anything else?"

He shook his head, clearly mortified.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to tell him." I assured him, "Now, do you mind letting go of my arm? I really need to get a letter for Molly to sign."

He obliged, and I ran up the stairs to room 12. Thankfully, I had left the Hogsmeade letter on the top of my things in the trunk, just in case something like that happened.

I quickly grabbed the letter and raced down the stairs. I wasn't in the mood to be wasting time.

Once I had reached the bottom of the stairs, I quickly scanned the room for Molly.

I found her really easily, she was stood talking to her twins.

"Molly, here it is!" I said, running up to her.

Whilst she took it off to sign, I decided to talk t Fred and George.

"Hello Rory!" Fred said.

"How are you today, little sis?"

"I'm fine thanks, George... but I don't understand why you called me little sis... I'm not your sister..."

"Well, Rory, you just fit in so well." George told me.

"You even have the classic Weasley hair and freckles!"

"Not the eyes though." George added.

"But you're still our sister now."

I smiled.

"See? We can always cheer you up." Fred said.

"And if anyone tries to hurt you,"

"We'll hurt them worse."

"Thanks, you two, but I don't think that will be necessary. I think I'll be the one saving your necks."

"If you insist." Fred said.

"I tell you what, Fred, by the time I've finished my 7th year at Hogwarts. I guarantee that I will have saved your life."

"Wanna bet?"

"Of course. I'd be willing to bet 10 galleons on it. And, I know when it will happen, oh, and by the way, George, I'll be sorry about the ear."

"What?" George asked.

"You'll know. So, Fred, the bet?"

"I don't know... 10 galleons is a lot of money."

"Trust me; you'll have a well paying job, and no NEWTS. You'll be fine; you'll be able to pay up."

I put my hand out for him to shake.

"10 Galleons it is, then... you're not just gonna do something lame, are you?"

"No, without my intervention, you'll die. Oh, and never make a bet with a psychic." I said, smiling.

Molly handed me back the letter, and we all sat down together for a family breakfast, I had Fred on my left, and George on my right, opposite Hermione, sat in between Ron and my brother.

We had a lovely morning talking, laughing, and playing games, and just before 9:30, we all went up to our rooms together and finished getting our stuff ready for Hogwarts. I was beyond excited, I couldn't wait for my year to begin. Hopefully we'd have a good DADA teacher. And the time-turners would mean that I would be able to do so much more!

We all left the Leaky Cauldron together, all 9 of us, as if it were a family outing, and made our way together to Kings Cross, excited for the year we had ahead of us at Hogwarts.

* * *

Again, sorry this is late, I've just been doing some planning.

I now know all the names I need... I think.

I've got most of their lives planned out.

A belated Happy Birthday to Neville Longbottom, who is utterly awesome, and an actual Happy Birthday to Harry Potter :)

I won't be doing any more writing today, a Harry Potter Marathon is in order to celebrate Harry's birthday, avec plien du brainstorming :)

It's nearly 2 am so Night night dear readers.

Kaisha :)


	9. A normal trip on the Hogwarts Express

**I don't own Harry Potter, or anything from that universe, the AMAZING Joanne Rowling does. I cannot claim ownership of any of it :'(**

* * *

When we arrived at Kings Cross, we still had more than enough time to catch the train. That was why we decided to hang around on the platform for a while, Ron, Harry, Hermione and I, to see if we could find any friends to talk to, and possibly sit with whilst Ginny, Percy and the Twins were being boring and finding seats.

While we were loitering on the platform, we saw our fair share of eager first years, unenthusiastic teachers, and laughing groups of friends.

At 5 to 11, Neville and Luna finally arrived.

"I was waiting for you two! Oh, how've you been? Tell me on the train, we don't want to be late." I said, leading my 5 friends onto the train.

We looked for an empty compartment, and were rather shocked to discover that they were all full already. We were beginning to think that we would all need to sit in the hallway when we found the last remaining compartment, with only one occupant. Compartments were only really built for 4 or 6 at most, but we would squish in. After all, these were the only seats left.

Harry and Neville sat on the side with the other occupant, who I had yet to look at, and Ron, Luna, me and Hermione on the other.

As Ron sat down, he asked, "Who do you think that is, anyway?"

Hermione and I both looked at his suitcase, which was over the top of his head, it read 'R.J Lupin' and, of course, it was easy to assume that he was a new teacher.

"Professor R.J Lupin." Hermione told him.

"Do you two know everything?" He asked.

"No, Ron, we know how to read suitcases."

"I'd have thought even you could do that, Ronald."

Something felt very familiar about this R.J Lupin... I was certain I'd seen him somewhere before, but to be sure, I had to check.

I discreetly took my wand out of my sock, and whispered a spell, sure that no-one else could hear it, to ever so slightly pull the professor's blanket down, so I could see his face.

I looked, and I discovered I was correct. It was Uncle Moony. I couldn't believe I hadn't worked it out when I heard R.J Lupin! The only living marauder I had yet to find was Wormtail, but I was sure that he wouldn't be far away.

I noticed that Neville was looking at me, so I quickly put my wand away.

"What is it, Neville?" I asked.

"What were you doing to Professor Lupin, Aura?"

"Nothing... I just wanted to see whether I knew him or not... and I do... but he doesn't exactly know me yet..."

"Visions?" He asked.

I nodded,"He's one amazing teacher... He's the best we're going to get. The only one who actually knows what he's doing, makes it enjoyable, and doesn't make you upset by..." I stopped, realising I had nearly told him too much, "Anyway... looking forward to this year, everyone?" I asked.

"It's going to be a big challenge for us, definitely. Ancient Runes looks to be an intriguing lesson." Hermione said.

"Excited about classes? Hermione, you're mental. I'm looking forward to the Hogsmeade trips, much better than just sitting around in the castle every weekend." Ron said.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the thestrals again. This year, I'll be out with them more, and looking for some creatures my dad told me about in the grounds."

"What are thestrals?" Ron asked.

"Forget it, Ron. You can't see them, neither can Harry or Hermione. In a couple of years though... and I'm sorry, but you'll be able to see them, Harry first..."

"Third year herbology looks interesting... but Potions..." I cut Neville off.

"Don't worry, Neville, I won't let my dad get on at you too much. Besides, Hermione and I are always there to tutor you if need be. Besides, you've definitely improved since we became friends, that much is obvious."

"Honestly, there isn't very much I'm looking forward to... being away from the Dursleys is a plus, though."

"I'm sure you'll find something, and I'm sorry that Vernon never signed your letter..."

"Don't be. That old git would never have signed it anyway."

We laughed and talked a little more for the next few minutes, before the Trolley arrived.

I quickly got up, and walked to the lady.

"Can I have... 20 of everything that's vegetarian, please?" I asked, before turning my head back to my friends, "Oh, sorry, I forgot to ask, do you want anything, guys? My treat of course."

"Uh, 2 packets of droobles, 3 chocolate frogs, 5 packets of those sweets which make you sound like animals and other things, a box of Bertie Botts' every flavour beans and... well that's it for me, I think." Ron replied.

"Ronald! You're taking advantage of her generosity! Besides, that's far too much for one human to consume!"

"Well, Rory's having 20 of everything!"

"Yes, but I expect she's being sensible, and saving some for later, like she tried to do last year. Besides, it isn't your money, Ronald is it?"

"But she did say we could, Hermione." Ron told her.

"Are you sure, Rory?" Hermione asked, so I nodded in reply, "Well, I guess I'll have a Pumpkin Pasty, then."

"A liquorice wand, if that's okay..." Neville told me.

"I'd rather wait till Hogwarts, if it's all the same. I hope they have pudding. I like pudding." She said, taking her copy of The Quibbler out of her bag.

"2 chocolate frogs please." Harry told me.

I quickly paid for our food and sat down, handing everyone their orders.

No sooner had I opened my first chocolate frog than the train unexpectedly ground to a halt.

"Why are we stopping?" Hermione asked, "We can't be there yet."

People peered out of their train compartments, anxious to discover what was happening, but no-one knew.

The train shook, and everyone fell back into the compartment.

"What the hell's going on?" Ron asked.

"I dunno, maybe we've broken down..." Harry said.

Ron turned to the window, hitting Hermione's foot.

"Ouch, Ronald, that was my foot!" She complained.

"Something's happening," Ron observed, his hand on the window, "I think someone's coming aboard."

The train shook again, and we began to notice it, the windows, the drinks, everything was turning cold and icing over. We were all shivering, and huddling together, trying to warm ourselves up. The way it had become so cold so fast was completely unnatural, even by magical standards. Ron's hand was on the icy window, for some reason, my dim witted friend had not had the common sense to move it, but none of us corrected him. We were all more focused on _what_ was happening, on _why _it was happening to bother with such a thing.

The train shook again, all the more violently, and Ron finally moved his hand, "What the hell's going on?" He loudly asked, looking at me.

"I'd tell you, but I don't remember seeing this, Ron. I'm just as clueless as the rest of you, for once."

It seemed almost impossible, but it turned even colder.

"Aura... what do you think is going to happen?"

"I don't know, Neville... but I have a feeling that it's probably not something good..."

And I was right. No sooner than I had said that, a mysterious, dark, cloaked person began to approach our compartment's door. I panicked. I didn't know who – or what, it was, and I was most likely powerless to stop it.

Its bony hand reached out, and the door to our compartment opened.

I recognised the creature immediately, this creature which had become familiar to me in my nightmares, it was a dementor. Knowing this only made my heart beat even faster, I didn't know how to defend myself, and I was completely unprotected. With my memories, I was an easy target, as was Harry.

The dementor stayed at the door to our compartment for a few moments, and I began to belie that I was safe. I was wrong.

The dementor sauntered forwards, and my heart beat even faster, knowing what could happen. They were only supposed to be looking for Uncle Padfoot, not persecuting innocent children, who just happen to not have great memories!

The dementor didn't turn to me or Harry, but it stood right in between us. Harry didn't know what to expect, so I suppose that he wasn't as scared as I.

I watched as the dementor's bony hands reached out to either side, towards Harry and I.

I felt a searing pain in my head, and collapsed to the floor. Every bad memory I had, every nightmare was gathering at the front of my head. I couldn't hold on to the good things, Neville, Hermione, Luna, Harry. I could only hold on to the bad, death eaters, Sally's death, dad's death, my death, Harry's death, Lily's death, James' death, The battle of Hogwarts, Cedric's death, Sirius' death, Fred's death, Dobby's death, Hermione's torture...

It was all too much. I was screaming in pain. It was overloading my brain. As my vision faded to black, I heard to screams, one my own, one another's. Never before had I been so scared when it wasn't a nightmare.

In that final second of consciousness, I just hoped that this torture would end quickly.

* * *

**Sorry this is late :( I went to Skeg at the weekend, so I couldn't write, and I've got writers block. I might have finished this earlier, but I had to babysit the girls next door earlier, and last week I had to help out at one of their parties. **

**I also don't have my normal laptop STILL so it's harder. **

**Anyway... please review. **

**Kaisha :)  
**


	10. Talking to Remus

**I don't own Harry Potter, or anything from that universe, the AMAZING Joanne Rowling does. I cannot claim ownership of any of it :'(**

* * *

AERPEOS_~_~_~_~_~_~_~TTT_~_~_~_~_~_~_~AERPEOS

I was on something comfortable, like a sofa, lying down. I was awake, that much I knew. Before I could bring up the courage to open my eyes, I tried to remember what had just happened, why I had fainted, and I did. I couldn't say that I was entirely grateful to remember, seeing as the dementor had scared me half to death, but at least I remembered.

I then realised that I would have been lying down on the train seat, where others needed to sit, so I slowly opened my eyes, and sat up.

Hermione, Luna, and Neville were crouched on the floor, looking relieved. Harry was just as unconscious as I had been on the other seat, the cats were sat next to him, and Remus and Ron, who held Scabbers, were stood outside the compartment.

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"About 3 minutes. We were all worried. Just after you collapsed, Professor Lupin woke up, and used a spell to send the... dementor, I believe, away. Then Harry collapsed." Hermione informed me.

"Thanks."

"How are you feeling?" Neville asked me.

"Well, I feel... sort of okay, a tad woozy though; I'm still scared though, I always see things like this coming... so why didn't I this time? I wish I knew... I really hate dementors, you know. Just not as much as... Oh! My dad doesn't know, does he? He'd probably have a fit!"

Hermione shook her head, and I felt relieved.

Remus came into the compartment, and sat down next to me, holding a piece of chocolate, looking at me inquisitively.

"Here," he aid, placing the chocolate in my hand, "this will make you feel better. It's only chocolate."

"Thank you, Professor Lupin." I said.

After I had finished the small piece of chocolate, I spoke up again.

"Um... professor... can I talk with you for a minute... in private?" I asked.

He nodded, and we left the compartment together. As I shut the door, I noticed that Ron, Neville, Scabbers and Luna had all sat together onto the seat where I had been laying, and Hermione was still kneeling on the floor, waiting for my brother to awaken.

"So, what is it that we need to talk about?" He asked, as we walked down the train.

"Firstly, I think you should know that I know who and what you are, Moony. Don't worry, I would never reveal something like that, and believe me, I'm good at keeping secrets... I have thousands... you'd better know that I have psychic visions, and in a few years time, whether you like it or not, I'm going to use them to save the lives of you, your... very close um... female friend, and 2 yeas before that, your best friend. Padfoot is innocent, you know, and you'll see why soon enough. Oh, before I forget, I have some friends who are big fans of the marauders, and would probable kill for your autographs. Oh, and I'm Aurora Potter, Harry's sister. Yes, I know James and Lily never had another child, but I'm only his 1/3 sister, thanks to a few clever pieces of magic, which my father put on my birth mother. It's fairly obvious which one I'm related to. I am a metamorphmagus, but this is my natural appearance, I've checked. I'm also 12, going into third year, I know I shouldn't be, I skipped a year. I can't think of anything else to say right now. Oh! I just remembered, my psychic visions are normally in the forms of horrific visions of death."

He took a moment to take it all in, and said, "Well, I suppose it's a good thing you told me this, Aurora. The resemblance between you and Lily is rather striking... And Sirius Black is a dangerous, guilty man. I just need a few minutes to take this all in..."

I shook my head, "You'll know the truth soon enough."

I headed back to my compartment without another word, Remus was following me, obviously, he needed to see how Harry was.

As I opened the door to our compartment, I saw that Harry was just waking up again. Hermione was asking if he was alright, and passed him his glasses. He sat up, and Remus managed to get in and sit next to him, with Hermione on the other side.

"Here, this will make you feel a lot better, it's only chocolate, don't worry." He told him, "Eat. You'll feel better," He stood and walked to the door again, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to have a word with the driver."

He left the door open, so I could come in. I took Kitty on to my lap; Hermione already had Crookshanks on her own lap, and sat down again.

"So, Luna, how's the bat?"

"Oh, she's lovely. Ophelia just fits right into my life. She's actually rather good at finding Gulping Plimpies. She loves to be around me."

I hadn't the foggiest what a Gulping Plimpy was, but I just nodded. She was my friend, and I didn't want to get her upset.

"And the other toad, Neville, how is she?"

"Oh, she's fine. Trevor's escaping a bit less now he's got some company..."

I smiled.

"Are we doing much in the dorm tonight, Hermione?" I asked.

"Um... I don't think so... I want to study, then get plenty of sleep."

"Oh... I kind of wanted to do something else... I've been studying the whole summer... I've finished all the work, and read through all of the textbooks. I want to just... talk and catch up with people...but I guess it's okay... so, what are you guys doing?" I asked.

"Um... I think we're just gonna have a laugh, and mess around, I suppose. I bought these sweets too, so we could have a bit of fun before all of the hard work we've got ahead of us." Ron told me.

"Cool..." I then remembered something, "Can I hang out with you then? I mean... girls are allowed in the boys dorms, so I could... but... you know, can I?"

"Um... might be a laugh I suppose... so long as you promise that you don't bring anything to do with work with you." Ron said.

"Of course. I'll bring my stockpile of sweets, my cat, my wand, spells which have fun effects, and stuff like that, I suppose..."

Harry nodded.

"Are you sure, Rory?" Hermione asked, "We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow, you know what Dumbledore and McGonagall were saying, we'll need our rest with the lessons we're taking."

"I'll get enough sleep, Hermione... I just want to take it easy for a while... you can understand that, right?"

She nodded, "Just don't be up too late."

"So, what do you think the R and J stand for in Lupin's name?" Ron asked, completely off subject.

"Remus John." I replied automatically. I didn't realise I had said that until it was too late, and my hand flew to cover my mouth, too late to stop those words from escaping.

"Now how would you know that?" Remus asked, returning from his talk to the driver.

"I told you I was psychic..." I said, quietly.

"Well, it's good to see that the two Potter kids are okay. You both fainted after the dementor attacked." He told us.

"Is that what it was?" Harry asked.

I nodded.

"A dementor guards Azkaban. They were here to search for Sirius Black. I suppose I should be getting out of your hair for a while. I can find somewhere else to sit, like the teachers compartment... though I'm not sure I'd be all that welcome... I'll be back to collect my suitcase later." He said, leaving our compartment once more, closing the door this time.

"What exactly happened?" Harry asked.

"You sort of went rigid... we thought that you were both having fits or something..." Ron said.

"Did any of you, you know... pass out?"

Luna shook her head, "Just you and Rory on the whole train. But I hear that another girl had a really bad headache..." **(A/N This is a clue to a secret that will be revealed in the very distant future. But, clever people may be able to piece together all the clues)**

"It felt weird though, like I'd never be cheerful again." Ron told us.

"I was trembling... it was so cold... but Professor Lupin made it go away, with that spell."

"But... there were people screaming... a woman and a girl..." Harry said.

"Rory was the only one who screamed." Neville said.

"No, Neville, I heard another scream too. I just assumed it was Harry... I didn't get a proper listen to be honest, but if it was a woman, I'm sorry I thought it was you, Harry. Didn't anyone else hear it?"

"No, there was only one scream..." Hermione assured me.

The rest of the train journey was... awkward to say the least. Harry and I were trying to work out who the mystery scream, but it was to no avail. The entire train was gossiping about the dementor attack, and no-one relaxed very much. I didn't think it would be a very good start to the year.

AERPEOS_~_~_~_~_~_~_~TTT_~_~_~_~_~_~_~AERPEOS

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**Well, here's your next chapter. It's almost midnight as I'm writing this, and I'm about to go out of the houe again, Metor Spotting. The next chapter will be on the great feast, and the night of the first night at Hoggy Warty Hogwarts. There's gonna be a few different things this year. I won't say very much about it, but I think it will soon be time for another nightmare. I'm also afraid that Rory (just Rory) will have another surname to add to the list very soon. **

**Okay... anyone got any ideas for what I'm gonna name the toad? I really don't have a clue, after using my only name ideas for future plotlines, i.e a Quidditch Tournament and... future characters. If you include your name and gender, and I choose your name, I will make you into a character if I choose your toad name :)  
**

**I still don't have my laptop :( It may not be fixable :( I find out on monday...**

**Midnight now. **

**Bye :)  
**


	11. First Night Home

**I don't own Harry Potter, or anything from that universe, the AMAZING Joanne Rowling does. I cannot claim ownership of any of it :'(

* * *

**

It was the middle of the afternoon, and the sorting ceremony was about to begin. I was sure that there were more students than usual, which would explain how full the train was, because there were normally spare seats on the train, or at least there were the previous year. It was odd. It was like it was a peak year for Wizarding Children.

As always, McGonagall lead in the many first years, filling most of the space in the Hall.

I didn't really pay much attention to what was happening, after all, I'd already been through it once, and I would have to sit through it another 4 times before I graduated, so ignoring the ceremony wasn't going to make a big difference.

The sorting ceremony took a fairly long time, and I was sure that it was much longer than the previous one, but it was basically just the same as the previous one, the choir sang a song, different than before, as did the sorting hat. Then all the fun of the sorting began, lasting around 2 hours.

I was sat on the Gryffindor table, with Bella, Hermione, Ron, Harry, Ginny, Fred and George, with some people I recognised from our Quidditch team nearby. Not that I didn't love when we got new students, but we were all hungry. We didn't really get a chance to have lunch on the days when we were on the train, and sweets couldn't really be classified as lunch, so we were all fairly hungry.

Then, Dumbledore began to speak, "Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Now, I have a few start of term announcements, before our wonderful feast begins. Now, before I announce our two changes in staffing, I thought that you should all be reminded that once more, the school term has been shortened to end in June. If you don't already know, the past few years we have been experimenting with a longer term, to see if it benefits the students, and after careful discussions, we have gone back to the standard term length. More information about this, and my other notices, acan be found on your common room notice boards. Now, without further ado, I'm pleased to welcome Professor R.J. Lupin, who's kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Good luck, professor."

Most of the hall began to clap for Moony, hopeful that he would be better than the last few teachers.

"He'll need it..." I heard Ron whisper.

"Of course! That's why he knew to give you two the chocolate!" Hermione said.

"Hey! Potter and... ginger Potter!" Draco whispered from behind us.

"What?" I asked, after I had turned around. My sister was sat next to him, talking to all of her slytherin friends. She looked even more... slytherin-like than before, and I almost didn't recognise her, but deep down I knew it was her.

"Is it true you fainted?" He asked.

No-one replied.

"I mean, you actually fainted?" He laughed, "I mean, it was even ridiculous that Chris..." He was cut off by her hitting him.

Hermione gave him the evil eye, and we all turned back around.

"How did he find out?" Harry asked.

"Just forget it..." Hermione said.

"Yes, so now I have announced your notice, Mister Filch, I'll be getting back to what I was saying. As I was saying, Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, has decided to retire to spend more time with his remaining limbs, and I am delighted to announce that our own Rubeus Hagrid has kindly accepted the position."

At that point, Hagrid stood up, practically tipping over the teacher's table.

So many of us students were clapping and cheering for him, mainly Gryffindor, and with the exception of many slytherin students.

"My next announcement, is something rather different to Hogwarts. In the previous years, we have arrived at school, and gone straight into lessons, but this year, our faculty has decided that would be a good idea to begin the term with a school wide camping trip."

The whole hall was full of excited murmurs, and it was going to be a good thing. We all knew that.

"Yes, how exciting. Now, all of your parents have been informed, so that will not be an issue, and as this has been a rather last minute decision, everyone has been provided with appropriate equipment, free of charge. Provided that this trip is a success, every year shall begin this way. The aim of the trip is to get you all nice and reacquainted, ready for the school term to begin without a hitch. It will also be an opportunity for some of you to experience muggle culture. Yes, the equipment you will be using is the same as the things which muggles would use, or incredibly similar to them, with only a few minor charms for your safety. You will be finding out more as you go along, but here are just a few details you should know now, school uniforms will not be required at all tomorrow, or throughout the trip. We will return after lunch on Monday, and school uniforms will not be required then either. Your uniforms will be required beginning on Tuesday, the day your lessons begin. During our stay, we will be residing in large muggle tents, each tent will fit ten people in it. For obvious reasons, girls and boys will not be sharing the same tents, but other than that, you are welcome to share with who you wish, and ten people will be in every tent, with the exception of a tent of the tents containing the remaining students, the one's left after you subtract every possible multiple of ten. We will be walking to the campsite at 11:30 am tomorrow; giving you enough time to double check your already packed items and do anything that needs to be done. We will be having lunch when we arrive. You should pack your things tonight, packing the things you will need in the large rucksacks provided, warm clothes, wands, toiletries, items to keep you occupied in your free time, books to study, etcetera. A sleeping bag is provided, but you do need to bring pillows and other things which you require for sleep. We will be participating in various activities throughout the stay, and remember, the most important thing is to have fun, and get to know your classmates. Now that I've said all that I can think to say on that matter, I must move on to a more disquieting note. At the request of the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts will, until further notice, play host to the dementors of Azkaban until such a time as Sirius Black is captured. The dementors will be stationed at every entrance to the grounds. Now whilst I've been assured that their presence will not disrupt our day-to-day activities a word of caution. Dementors are vicious creatures, who cannot distinguish between the one they hunt and the one who gets in their way. Therefore, I must warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you; it is not in the nature of a dementor to be forgiving." He paused, just for a few seconds, and waved his hand, extinguishing the flame of one of the candles there, and continued, "But you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light." He waved his hand over the candle again, relighting the flame, obviously in an attempt to lift the spirits of the students, and once more, he continued, "The feast will begin shortly, I can assure you all that. In fact, I can hear many rumbling bellies out there, one of which being my own. Before we sing our school song, I have one last notice to give out, for two girls, who know who they are; Professor McGonagall and I wish to see you immediately after the feast in my office, to do with your third year subject choices. Now, on with our school song!" Dumbledore took his wand, and began waving it in the air like those batons held by people conducting choirs and orchestras, signalling us to begin.

I enjoyed the school song. It was just another chance that good old bumblebee gave us for self expression. We could sing it to whichever tune we pleased, at whatever tempo, pitch, key. I knew I would miss that once I left Hogwarts, but I had a few years to wait for that. For that, I was grateful.

There were many versions of the School Song being sung at once, some fast, some slow, some at a fairly... average speed. The most noticeable of all the versions was Fred and George's. Their version was by far the slowest, a slow funeral march. It was also the most amusing, with Fred and George both making a huge show of it, and at one point, they were singing it as a serenade. It was all rather ridiculous, but it was a good laugh.

When Fred and George finally finished, Dumbledore sat down, and hundreds of plates of freshly cooked food appeared before us, on each of the house tables. I knew, of course, that food could not be created by magic, meaning that there was a kitchen somewhere, of course, I didn't actually know where it was, but it was the only logical explanation.

I quickly scanned the table, looking at all of the scrumptious food. I only took a few seconds, but by the time I looked up, Ron was already stuffing his face, and I looked at him in disgust.

"You know, Ron, there's this amazing new invention I just heard about. It's called a plate. You put food on it, and eat off of it; you might want to try it sometime. I've even heard about things you use to pick up and eat your food with, called forks and spoons, and you can cut it up with something called a knife. I'm sure even you could learn to do that." I said. Hungry as I was, I wasn't going to show myself up in front of the entire school.

"Sorry for having a stomach, and not getting any lunch." He said, sarcastically.

By this time, I was putting some food on my plate, glad to see that there was a lot of it which I could eat.

"Honestly Ronald, you'd think that by now you wouldn't need your mother to be feeding you. Look at you! You've already stained your uniform. Well, I can tell you that I'm not going to cast the right spell on that for you, and I'm sure Rory won't either. Have fun being laughed at."

We sat, talked, laughed, and ate for a while before the food disappeared, and we were all sent on to our common rooms with our prefects. Well, with the exception of me and Hermione. We had to see Dumbledore and/or McGonagall about our time turners.

We snuck off together when no-one was looking, and went to the entrance of Dumbledore's office.

On the way, we discussed the fact that I had been learning French, and was continuing it for as long as possible, for a rainy day. Or another visit to France. Or in case I met anyone French. She agreed that it was a good idea. Besides, it was another good hobby for me to have.

Thankfully, Dumbledore was awaiting us in front of his statue, and as we arrived next to him, he used his new password on the statue, and we silently went up to his office. In the end, McGonagall wasn't there, something else came up which she needed to do, which was more important.

We sat down, signed some forms, got large insturuction books, and received our time turners. I was relieved that they were, in fact, just small hourglasses on chains. Similarly to watches, they had small knobs on the side, which you turned. If you turned them backwards one turn, you went back an hour, if you turned it forward, you could go further an hour.

"Now," Dumbledore said, "Before you go, you should know that I'm supposed to warn you that these should only be used for school. But I won't. Be sensible, girls, and I advise that you keep them safe, and know where they are at all times. If you lose them, you will not be getting replacements."

I nodded, as did Hermione. In my opinion, the safest place for it to be was around my neck at all times, just in case of emergencies. Hermione agreed, it was the only place that other people couldn't get to it.

We went to Gryffindor Tower together, after being informed of the new Gryffindor password. In my dormitory, all but one were there, Ginny, Hermione, Bella, myself, and the other girl, only just moving into our dorm, had yet to arrive. We assumed she was hanging with her friends elsewhere in the tower.

Whilst I was charming the large rucksack, in the same way I had my suitcase, Bella was telling me how my eldest sister wasn't able to take one of her choices in the end, due to Divination and Ancient Runes being in the same time slot, so she was now taking Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. Obviously, in the end she needed to get a different book, but that didn't matter.

After I had charmed my rucksack, I simply poured the entire contents of my trunk in there, leaving out the things I needed for the night and morning, and whatever I was taking with me to the boys'.

I changed into my pyjamas, a pair of fluffy bunny slippers and my dressing gown, with my time turner round my neck. No-one could see it however, because I kept it on below everything.

I spent around half an hour talking to girls before heading off to the boys', my cat following me, and my things and sweets in my arms. I had been invited anyway, but if Seamus or Dean complained, it wouldn't do much good anyway, there was a majority who would want me in there, my older brother, my best male friend, and my friend.

I knocked before entering, and Seamus and Dean were surprised to see me. Obviously Ron, Harry and Neville hadn't told them that I was invited too.

"What's she doing here?" Seamus asked.

"I was invited. Besides, my room was boring." I said, still no further in than the doorway.

"Well I'm not having no girls in my dorm room." Seamus said.

"Actually, Seamus, it's not no, it's any, otherwise you're basically saying that you want your room full of girls. Besides, what broom do I have, Seamus?"

"What does that matter?"

"You've forgotten already? I have a bloody Firebolt! And, when people are on my good side..."

"Oh, right. Come on in, then. Remind me why you have a Firebolt." I walked in and sat next to my brother, on a windowsill in-between the two beds the others were sat on.

"Okay, not that I really told you anyway, but it was just a Christmas present, but I do love to play Quidditch."

"Oh, what's your best position?" Harry asked.

"Seeker, but I'm also a fair Chaser, I'm okay at Beater, but not quite as good. I never tried keeper. I never got the chance. I do prefer Seeker though."

"We'll have to see how good you are sometime, won't we?" Ron sort of asked.

"Madame Hooch said I was really good last year, I'm sure of it. Of course, then I got the Firebolt, but, then again, it's how you play not the broom you play on. Now, before I bore you all to death, I want some sweets." I smiled.

Ron passed me a bowl full of sweets. I stopped him just before he could give me a sweet, and showed him my large bag of sweets.

"Let's dig in." I said smiling.

A few hours later, it was getting late, and we'd been having non-stop fun. I'd shown them a few fun things you can do with magic, we'd discussed various subjects, eaten almost all of our sweets, some of which had hilarious results, but it was getting really late. I couldn't think of much else to do, so I said goodnight to the buys, took my books and wand out with me, with Kitty following behind.

When I went to our dorm, I was surprised that the light was on, someone was still up. The new girl. When she heard me arrive, she put her book down, leaving on her glasses with blue frames. I looked at her, and noticed how she had hazel eyes; porcelain, slightly spotty skin; and auburn hair.

"Oh, hi, I'm Rory. Are you the new person in here?" I asked.

"Oh, don't mind me, I'm Maggie. New girl. Just transferred in today, actually. 5th Year dorms were full, so I got put in here with you third years" She spoke with a thick Irish accent, and paused, "Aren't you a little young to be in your third year?" She asked.

"Oh, cool, you're Irish. Um, yeah, I skipped a year, and, actually, there's a second year in here too. When did you get in here?" I asked.

"About half an hour ago. The only one left up was the blonde one, Bella. She seems nice."

I smiled, "She's my sister. I don't really know who she looks like in our family, other than her twin. I look nothing like mine, but I look like my mum." I said, referring to Lily.

I yawned.

"You're tired." She observed, "Get to bed, we can talk tomorrow." She was friendly.

I smiled at her, took my potion, and I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

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**It's half past midnight, I lost the old chapter, so I'm sorry this is late, and it made me annoyed so it took ages to re-write, I got a B in my science Gcse, so I'm rushing this so it's uploaded before the internet's shut off. Well, I really don't have any time, I finished this literally 2 minutes ago, and that was a quick A/N.**

**I don't have a clue when the next one will be up. **

**Please review. It'll make my B seem better :) I got a B because my 4 exams were all As but my coursework was a d :(**

**anyway, bye. **

**Kaisha :) **

**(For story updates check my new, short profile! :))**


	12. Sweat and Tears

**I don't own Harry Potter, or anything from that universe, the AMAZING Joanne Rowling does. I cannot claim ownership of any of it :'(**

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I woke up the next morning eager to go camping. It was 7am, and me, Hermione, and Maggie were the only ones up.

"See you woke up." Hermione said.

"Yeah. Are you two excited?" I asked.

"It'll be a nice opportunity to do some studying." Hermione said.

"I suppose. Problem is, I don't know anyone my own age. And I don't have a tent sorted out yet..."

"Oh, well, I know a few people your age, and I'd be happy to introduce you if you like Quidditch players and pranksters, and if you don't find a tent, you'll be welcome in ours, even though we're about two to 3 years younger than you."

"Thanks. And I don't think it's that much. I only turned 15 two weeks ago."

"Yeah, and I turn 14 in 2 and a half weeks..." Hermione said.

"I'm pretty sure Bella, Buffy and Lexi all turn 14 soon. I'm a bad sister not knowing when, but I really haven't had that long to get to know them... anyway, back to what I was saying, the only huge age difference is with me and Ginny, the twelve year olds."

She seemed confused, and I knew why.

"Oh, right, I've only known 3 of my 4 sisters, and one brother for a short time because my twin, who's in Slytherin, and I, were adopted at a young age, and only found our family last year. Then, of course, I skipped into the year with my older sisters, and brother in, leaving my twin, unfortunately, in the year below me. And my adopted parents disappeared and I changed my surname to this super long thing, so I've got 1 first name, Aurora, 2 middle names, Evangeline and Rose, and 4 surnames."

"4 surnames? Why not one?"

"I might as well tell you, anyone I introduced you too would tell you anyway... but, thanks to the wonderful properties of magic, I, and my sisters, not my brother though, have 3 biological parents. When I chose a new surname, because I really didn't like my old one, me and my sisters, excluding my twin in the end, decided that we would adopt surnames from each of our parents. And that's where they're from. I have two biological mothers, one biological father, and the extra surname is from the one I look like, the one that's dead. We've got her maiden name and married name. My twin just has dad's surname."

"Which is?" Maggie asked. She sure was persistent, but I just decided that being open with her was probably better. I didn't want her hearing it from someone else who got the details wrong, so it was better to hear it from me. At least that's what I thought.

I took a deep breath, "My full name is Aurora Evangeline Rose Potter Evans Ollivander Snape. My twin sister is Christabelle Alexandra Snape. My older sisters are Alexandria Alice Primrose, Elizabeth Anastasia Marie, and Isabella Cassandra Louise Potter Evans Ollivander Snape."

"Wait... Potter... I've heard that before... and Snape... there's a teacher here with that surname, isn't there?"

I nodded, "Snape's the potions teacher. The only one of us to look like him is Buffy. Even then it's only her eyes and hair. As for Bella and Lexi, I really don't know who they look like. At least it's easy to tell them apart, they both have one green eye, and one blue. Lexi's blue eye is on her right, and Bella's is on her left. Anyway, I can guarantee you'll have heard of my surname before. Because of my brother... well... he's only my one-third brother, but still."

Something clicked, and a look of realisation spread on her face, "Harry Potter!"

I nodded, and got dressed into a comfortable pair of jeans, a t-shirt, a hoodie, and a pair of trainers. I really couldn't wait much longer, so I went down to breakfast, to see who was already there.

On the house tables was a large variety of breakfast foods, with many students there already, enjoying the delicious food.

I was about to sit down at the Gryffindor table, and have breakfast for once, namely scrambled eggs and bread and butter, before I looked up towards the teachers' table. Snape, my father, in his usual black robes, with his usual disdainful look, had just gotten up from the table, and was walking down the aisle, the aisle where I stood.

I sighed. I loved my father, of course I did, but I was worried for some reason. I just didn't feel... right. I didn't feel like talking to him, I had nothing to say. Of course, if he talked to me, I would reply, but I just felt... odd.

I had only known him for a year, and known he was my father for almost that time, but I was still having a hard time accepting it. Even with what I knew, it was still extremely odd for me to have 3 parents, one of whom was a spy for the order, one dead, and one just... never really there much. Even without my visions, it would make me feel like an orphan, or a total outcast, even in the Wizarding realm.

My father approached me, and knowing that whatever he wanted to talk to me about would likely be something that he would rather say in private, I walked out of the Great Hall's doors, out of the Castle's front door, and into the deserted courtyard, closely followed by my father.

We sat down on one of the benches, and he began to talk to me.

"Now, Aurora, it has come to my attention that you have been permitted to go on the weekend trips to Hogsmeade this year, correct?"

I nodded.

"Now, this decision was made without my knowledge or input, and I have to say that I do not approve."

"Dad... I'm in my third year... everyone else in my year is going. Well, except Harry..."

"Yes, in your _year_, but you are a lot younger than those boys and girls, are you not? And, whilst teachers will also be going to Hogsmeade, no-one will be there to keep you out of danger. Anything could happen, Aurora."

"Dad, I'll be fine."

"How am I supposed to ensure that? I recommend that, if you do choose to go, you are chaperoned at all times, by a prefect, me, or another staff member."

"Dad, I won't be going around on my own. I have friends. Besides, muggles my age go wandering about at my age, or younger, and they're fine. Besides, I get sick of just staying in the castle all year. If I don't get to leave the grounds, sooner or later, I'll probably just go sneaking off, either to Hogsmeade, or to somewhere which could be dangerous. In the long run, it's better to let me go to Hogsmeade. Please, dad. Besides, I've got 3 sisters, a brother, and at least 3 other friends going. I'll be safe. Just... please no chaperone."

"Hmm." He said, taking what I had said into consideration.

Taking that as the end of our discussion, I got up, and began to talk away.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

I turned around, "Oh, sorry, I didn't realise..." I said, getting back to the seat.

"I would also like to congratulate you on taking up the challenge of taking all 12 courses." He paused, "Although... I can't help but worry that you could fall back in your studies in some subjects with all of the extra pressure you are going to have, which is why I would like to give you extra, out of hours tutoring in Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts."

I shook my head, "I don't need it. I won't fall behind in anything, especially not Potions or Defense Against the Dark Arts. I've already had a lot of practise in that, and I'll be getting some more. I can't tell you how or why, though, even though you can easily find out by yourself, and I'll be getting plenty of good DADA teaching this year and next year and, unfortunately, plenty of practical, life or death opportunities to use that every single year, well, except, possibly, in my 4th year... so I'm safe as houses... well... sort of..."

"Aurora... I just don't want for you to fail."

"I know, and I won't. If I could force a vision, then I would be able to tell you for certain, but I'm sure I'll do fine in my OWLs and NEWTs, and, again, I just want some time out of the castle. I mean, its great here, don't get me wrong, and there's so many nice people, so many fascinating creatures, and I don't want to leave permanently, but you've got to understand... I need a change of scene sometimes. Besides, dad, there are ways and means to sneak out, but I won't have to resort to that anyway. Molly Weasley signed my letter." Of course, I didn't want to sneak out, that would not only be wrong, but it would just be so much more difficult to just... hang around and explore, out of fear of being caught.

"Lily, I-" He stopped, realising his mistake.

My hair darkened, and became red. I was outraged! I wasn't Lily! I got up, and stormed towards the doors, and shouted back at him, "I'm not her, dad! Talk to me again when you know and accept who I am!" I ran into the Entrance Hall before he could stop me, or try and talk himself out of trouble. I began to cry as I ran up the stairs, towards a bathroom, but I didn't care. I just wanted to be as alone as I could.

Realising that all of the bathrooms in use would be packed with other girls getting ready for the day, I ran to the only place I could think of. Myrtle's.

When I arrived, I was so... angry and upset. It hurt me inside that my father was unable to accept me for who I was. The more I thought about it, the more I realised that it was true. The way he had treated me in class, the influence I could have on him, his infatuation with Lily, the way I looked and so much more. I knew he was going to come looking for me, probably with some far-fetched excuse, or a memory charm, which was why I just needed some time, and so did he.

I hated people seeing me cry, and it usually made me all the more upset. But, I knew that in Hogwarts Castle, you were never truly alone, no matter how much you tried to evade people, sooner or later, someone would find you, even a ghost.

That was why I wasn't surprised when Moaning Myrtle showed up, just as I was nearly finished crying.

"Hello, Rory." She said, approaching my slowly.

"What do you want?" I asked her.

"Why are you crying?"

I sighed, "My dad's an idiot. H-He can't see me for... he can't see me f-for me..." I sobbed.

"Oh. What does he see you for?"

"Li-Lily P-Potter. My m-mother..."

"You do look like her. Must be horrible..."

"Yes, it is. He always acts like that, now if you don't mind, I want to be alone!" I really shouldn't have gotten angry at Myrtle. She was just trying to help. But I was just so angry. My emotions had gotten the better of me, and I couldn't let that happen. If it did, then who knows what could happen? When my emotions were out of whack, so were my powers.

I took deep breaths, and looked into one of the dusty mirrors. My hair, still long and wavy, was a sad-looking blue on one side, and a fiery red on the other, and my eyes were the same, one red, one a deep blue.

I managed to calm myself, and returned to my normal appearance. The appearance which looked so much like Lily. One of the reasons that my father treated me the way he did. It was then that I realised that, for the time being at least, I would need a drastic change of appearance. I had various reasons for that decisions, one being a test of how long I could keep up another appearance.

I didn't think about it for too long, and soon enough, my hair and eyes were completely different. I didn't feel like changing any of my other features, though, because I still wanted to be somewhat recognisable.

My hair was now, rather than halfway down my back, straight, and slightly spiky above my shoulders, and of bluish-purple colour. I had no real ides, so I took inspiration from Tonks' appearance, but added my own touch to it. My once striking green eyes were now a pink, and they were just as striking as before, if not more.

I had to admit, I looked a little... odd. But, in a way, it made me feel better about myself. It made me feel unique – in a good way.

I held my head high as I walked back into the Great Hall, unsurprised to find that it was a lot fuller than before.

Many of my friends were now sat enjoying breakfast, talking and laughing away.

Of course, all eyes were on me as I entered the Great Hall for the second time that morning, and I wasn't surprised. After all, I was the only kid there who looked so... different.

I ignored everyone's stares, and headed down to where Hermione and the rest were sat. I sat in a spot that was most likely left for me, between Harry and Neville, opposite Hermione, and diagonally across from Ron. Ginny was also somewhat close, as was Bella.

Hermione smiled, "You look nice, Rory. If, of course, that is Rory in there..." She said.

"Yeah, 'Mione, it's me I just... fancied a change..." I said, making up some lame excuse.

She looked closely, and eventually asked, "Have you been crying?"

I pushed those tears of anger and sadness which were now oh-so willing to come out back again, and told Hermione, "I don't want to talk about it right now, but I promise I'll tell you later, when I feel better."

Hermione understood that I really wanted to talk about it, but wouldn't for a while, and backed off from the subject.

"So... um... is everyone ready for the camping?" Hermione asked.

"It'll be different..." Ron said, "Dad will be expecting some huge letter about muggle camping, a full bloody account of what we did, I suppose... with pictures too... Hermione, Rory, would you mind writing it?" He asked.

Hermione and I sighed together.

"Ronald, he's your father. He and your mother may be fostering Rory, but they're most definitely not fostering me! Besides, your parents would probably prefer letters written by you, Ginny, Fred, George and Percy."

"Hermione..."

She sighed, "Fine, we'll redraft it, is that okay with you, Rory?"

"It's fine. I don't mind. I'll take some pictures too." I said, forcing a smile. I wasn't really having a good morning.

Soon enough, I'd eaten my breakfast, and sorted out most of the people I would be sharing a tent with. Of course, we knew that there was going to be 10 people in our tent, so we were going to get more people, but that was going to be a nice surprise as to who it was when it happened. So far, in my tent was me, Hermione, Ginny, Lexi, Buffy, Bella, and Luna. I wasn't as close as I used to Jen as I used to be, somehow we had just drifted apart. It was okay, though. Christabelle wouldn't have wanted to share a tent with us even if I had asked her, so I didn't. I was sure she had a huge crowd of Slytherin friends by now, so she was fine. Buffy was Slytherin too, but I was certain that she had been incorrectly sorted, and so was she. All of her friends were in the other houses, and had I not known better, I would have thought that she was in Gryffindor, like me and Bella, or Ravenclaw, like Lexi, or maybe in Hufflepuff, like... no-one in our family.

Before I knew it, it was time for the camping trip to begin, and everyone was in the Great Hall, with their backpacks and sleeping bags. I noticed that the backpacks were different colours, according to your house, but the sleeping bags were not. All of the sleeping bags were dark blue on the outside, and had a comfortable, black material on the inside.

Before we set off, Dumbledore informed us of some rules that would apply whilst we were away, such as: never go anywhere other than the main camping site without a teacher's permission, always make sure that someone knows where you are, be in or near your tents by ten pm, never go anywhere alone, and have fun. There were other rules too, but they were more, increasingly basic things. He also informed us that, if we had brooms, we would need to go collect them before we left. I already had mine, with all of the things I owned, in that charmed backpack. Many students went to collect their brooms, except for the first years, and other students without brooms. We waited there for a while, and once Dumbledore was sure everyone had returned, he gave us time to get into small groups before he lead the way out of Hogwarts.

I was walking with Luna, Neville, Hermione, Harry and Ron, and we were talking along the way. We weren't really talking about anything in particular, but the conversations were interesting enough.

Instead of walking towards Hogsmeade Village, Dumbledore lead us in the opposite direction, into more countryside, fields, wildlife, it was certainly beautiful, and I felt compelled to take some pictures along the way. They weren't the best, but they still captured the magnificent Scottish countryside beautifully.

It didn't seem to take very long to get to the campsite, but I knew it had been at least half an hour.

There were huge tents in 20 long rows, each had the Hogwarts crest on it, and they were all the same colour, a dark green. They looked fine. They were all large, and each appeared to have extra 'bedrooms' in them as well as the 'main area'. At that point, however, it was impossible for me to tell if there were 'bedrooms' and, if there were, how many there were per tent.

We weren't allowed to go off and choose our tents straight away, because Dumbledore had more to say.

"Welcome to our camping site! This will be your home for the next 5 days, so treat it well. As I said last night, there will be 10 to a tent, one gender only per tent, etcetera. You have an hour to get yourselves sorted before Lunch. At mealtimes, picnic baskets will appear in front of your tents, filled with your meals. The House Elves in the kitchen back at Hogwarts are kindly preparing those for us, and you will get 3 meals per day, as usual. If, in one hour, you do not have a tent, please return here, and we will ensure you find a tent with people to share with. We will all reconvene here in precisely 2 hours, wearing clothing suitable for doing a lot of running around in, for our afternoon activity. So, in the mean time, have fun, and unpack! You may now go choose your tent!"

The second that Dumbledore said that, there was a huge rush of students, all running desperately to be able to get the tents that they wanted. I didn't really understand why they wanted any tent in particular, they were all basically the same in the end, so it didn't really matter, as long as you got one.

As I ran off to see which tent my friends and I were in, I noticed that there was still a large group of people lingering besides Hogwarts' Faculty. _Slytherins._ They obviously weren't as excited as the rest of us, probably thinking it was dumb. But it wasn't. I knew we were going to be doing a few muggle activities, and staying in muggle tents, but that didn't mean that they had to be so... sour. It was just muggle stuff; it wasn't going to hurt them.

The 20 rows were labelled A-T, and each had a tent

Eventually, I found Luna sat in front of our tent, tent K-15. Next to each tent was a signpost, and seeing as they were all identical, it made them easy to identify. Soon enough, I also found out that Harry, Neville, Ron and the guys were in the tent opposite us. That made it easy enough to find them.

I talked to Luna for a few minutes before going in. Apparently, Ginny was shocked that the tent didn't have beds, like the Wizarding ones did. To be honest, I was surprised that you could have beds in tents. After all, camping wasn't about being in bed. It was more of... experiencing the great outdoors, and being woken up at the crack of dawn after having very little sleep. If I was at home, I would have hated it, but I wasn't.

It was pretty much the same on the inside, a large, dark green area in the middle, with 4 'rooms' attached for us to sleep in. I doubted that we would be sleeping in those rooms, however. It was more likely that we would be sleeping either outside, or in the main tent compartment.

I was quickly ushered into the rightmost compartment by Hermione.

"We're sharing right now, probably just us, but we might get another person to share with. Luna and Ginny are on our left, and the triplets are on their left. The leftmost room has been left for the other 3 we'll be sharing with. I haven't a clue who it will be, but if one of them would rather not share with the other 2, then that girl is welcome to share with anyone else. But, it will probably just be us in here. Unless Ginny throws Luna out." She laughed. Luna was one of my best friends, and I knew what she meant. Luna was... different. But I liked that about her. If everyone was the same, then life would be boring. It would be really easy for Ginny to get annoyed with Luna. I did sometimes. But that was just Luna. Luna was cool. She was unique. A little weird... but, when you got to know her, she was so easily your best friend.

I unpacked my sleeping bag, and took out a few books, clothes and the like before venturing back outside. Luna was still outside, looking into the woods past the rest of the tents..

"Hey, Luna."

"Hello again, Rory. Did you have fun with Hermione?"

"Yeah. I unpacked, talked a bit... but I'd rather be... playing Quidditch, or practising... something. Or exploring. I'm just a little... bored."

"I was thinking of going out for a walk." She stated, "I might as well, before people go stealing my shoes. Besides, I want to see what wildlife they have over here."

"Can I join you?"

"Of course. If anyone else wants to come, they're welcome too."

I smiled, and told her I'd ask.

I turned around, and went back to our tent, asking each individual compartment if they wanted to come. Buffy and Lexi were the only ones who wanted to, so they waited with Luna whilst I asked the boys' tent. Harry was the only one there who would.

We all walked off together, past the other 70 tents that there were, equally dispersed on either side of us.

"So, how far into the woods are we going to go?" Lexi asked.

"Not too far. We only really have about hour, and I don't want to miss lunch." Luna said.

"I hope there's a clearing or something. Some form of wildlife would be nice." I said.

Had I taken my camera in with me, I would have taken some photos. It was beautiful in there. Simple, yes, but it was much better than I would have expected. The trees swayed softly in the wind, and the variety of colours that we could see was large and beautiful.

Eventually, we came to a small clearing. The perfect place for a campfire. It looked like that was what it was normally used for, anyway, seeing as there was a small stone circle in the middle, which looked like it had been used for campfires before a pile of firewood, and logs around the campfire to sit on. It would be the perfect place to be late at night, telling scary stories, playing games, eating food.

But, that wasn't the only thing in the clearing. Past the logs, there was a small gathering of Thestrals. Obviously, it was a little awkward, as Luna and I were the only people who could see them. I gave Luna a knowing smile, which she returned. Seeing as those were wild thestrals, we didn't approach them. Who knows what they could have done?

We decided to stay in the clearing for a while before heading back. We weren't going to go any farther into the forest, in case we got lost.

"So, what do you think our first activity is going to be?" Buffy asked.

"Haven't a clue." Harry replied.

"I hope it's not going to involve too much running about..." Lexi said.

"You're kidding, right? Sis, you heard what Dumbledore said, 'We will all reconvene here in precisely 2 hours, wearing clothing suitable for doing a lot of running around in', right? I think we're going to be doing some muggle activity involving running." Buffy replied.

"There's a lot of muggle activities that involve running, you know." Harry told our sisters.

"There is?"

"Yeah, Lex. Whilst we only really have Quidditch, they have millions of sports and activities. Most of them involve a lot of running though." I told her, "You have muggle television, right?" I asked. To be honest, I didn't actually know why they had it, as most witches and wizards didn't. I guessed hat it was just their thing.

Lexi nodded.

"Well, on Muggle TV, they normally show lots of those sports. Not really my thing, but lots of people do like it... you should give it a watch sometimes."

Buffy and Lexi nodded.

A few minutes later, we had a nice leisurely stroll back to our tents. We were all sure that we would go back into that forest, it was nice in there, and we all wanted to go further in next time.

When we arrived back at tents K-15 and L-15, 2 picnic baskets had just magically appeared in front of each of them. After finding out about the house elves earlier from Dumbledore, it all made a lot more sense. House Elves had magic too, but a different sort. Obviously, they still had to make the food, but at least it made more sense.

We picked up the baskets, and went into the main area of our tent. Hermione and Ginny were already sat there, and were happy to see that the food had arrived. We set up the picnic blanket, and alerted Bella that the food had arrived, before we began to eat.

As the tent door was open, we looked out at all of the other tents. Most of the, were just realising that it was lunchtime, and taking their picnic baskets. One tent in particular, however, tent M-11, was just having a water fight, ignoring their nearby food. Dumbledore had warned us that we were going to have an active activity, though, so that was a bit... stupid. Water fights were fun though, I had only been in the one myself, but I enjoyed it, and I was sure that we would be having one here, but not when we knew that we were going to be doing... something, being wet and hungry wasn't a very good idea.

Five minutes into lunch, Professor Sinistra came to our tent.

"Hello, girls. How many are there in your tent?" She asked.

"Seven, Professor." Hermione replied.

Okay, then, perfect. See, there's three girls here who don't mind where they go, as long as they stay together. I'll leave them with you, then. " She said.

She then moved on from the tent, followed by a large group of students.

Just a few seconds later, the Patil twins and Lavender Brown entered the tent.

"Hello Hermione, Elizabeth, Alexiandria, Isabella, Aurora." Lavender greeted us. Hermione used to share a room with Lavender, Pavarti, Padma, and another girl. Well, before I came along, anyway, stirring up all of the rooming arrangements. From what I heard, though, they weren't very close. **(A/N Yes, I know Padma's in Ravenclaw, but so far, every set of twins are in separate houses, so I wanted to change something to make it not... yeah. Carry on)**

"Um, actually, it's Buffy, Lexi, Bella and Rory." Buffy told them.

"Right... sorry. And you are?" Lavender asked Ginny and Luna.

"Ginny Weasley."

"Luna Lovegood."

"Hermione, where do we put our things?" Pavarti asked. (I think. They were actually rather identical, making it difficult to tell)

"The room furthest to the left, Pavarti. We're in the other rooms, so it's just you three in there." Hermione told her.

They quickly put their stuff away before joining us for lunch.

Lunch seemed to go by slowly. Too slowly. It was Padma, Pavarti, or Lavender's fault, but I guess I just had a lot to think about. Dad, Camping, Dad, sports, Dad. We ate quietly, and when we put the picnic stuff out for collection in front of the tent afterwards, we returned to our separate rooms, and just sat there. Well, at least that's what Hermione and I did. We didn't have much to say.

As the time approached for the game to begin, Hermione and I both changed out of our jeans and into joggers. Neither of us though it would be a good idea to do a lot of running in our jeans, because they could get dirty or ruined, even though we both knew how to fix them with simple spells. Besides, it was a lot easier to run in joggers.

When it was time for our activity, we all went to Dumbledore, who was exactly where he was earlier, by an old tree stump.

Once everyone was there, he began to speak. "Good afternoon," He said, "I trust you all had a good lunch. Now, today's afternoon activity is a muggle game known as Capture the flag. Now, as this is not a game for 1000,different tents have been allocated to different Hogwarts Faculty members. When you are with your faculty member, rules will be explained then." He nodded his head, and we listened carefully as McGonagall announced which tents were working with which faculty members.

As luck would have it, Our tent, Harry's tent, and a few other tents from our rows were grouped together, with Professor Lupin. He had to take us on a bit of a hike to get to where we needed to go, but it was okay. I had never played Capture the Flag before, and I didn't have a very good idea of what you did when you played it, but I

"Right. Well, I've only actually met a few of you so far, but as you may know, I'm your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin. Right, I know we need to get on with the game, so let's get sorted. Now, get yourselves into 4 teams of 15 each." He said, pausing to give us enough time to get ourselves sorted into our teams.

Our tent just stayed together, and we grouped with Harry, Ron, Neville, Dean and Seamus, seeing as we knew each other. It made it easier for us. That way, we wouldn't get confused about who we were working with.

"Right, now that that's been sorted, I'll explain the rules. First of all, put your wands away. No Magic allowed. Each team has a flag which needs protecting. It's the aim of the other teams to steal the other flags, which are hidden, and take them over to their sides, without getting caught. If you do get caught, you are placed in 'jail', and cannot leave until one of your teammates rescues you. After being rescued, you have to run back to your own territory before you can do anything else. You will each have a triangular area, equal to the sizes off the other areas. The last team remaining is the winner. Now, here are your flags." He gave each team a different coloured flag. Ours, for example was red. The other colours were blue, yellow, and green.

Not long after, the game began. The teams were divided by coloured lines, which seemed to extend into the air also. I was on Offense, trying to get the other teams' flags. That was sure to involve a lot more running around than being on defence, but I didn't mind. I knew I was going to get sweaty, so it was a good job that I was wearing my joggers, and a comfortable t-shirt. As a team, we had also decided that we would go for the green team first. Well, most of us were in Gryffindor, mostly associated with red, and Gryffindor's main enemy _was_ Slytherin, mostly associated with green. Besides, we shared a border with them.

For the first two minutes, I stayed in our area, looking for a good way into green territory. Obviously, I wasn't going to get anything perfect, and I had a very low chance of success, but it was still worth a shot.

When I finally decided to invade, I ran in with Ron. I wasn't the fastest runner, but I most definitely wasn't the slowest either. I was fairly fast, though. Ron however, was one of the slower ones, which wasn't a very good thing, as he was sent to jail almost straight away. I however, only just managed to avoid those greens.

I ran further into green territory, and finally, I saw the flag. However, just as I was about to grab it, I was tagged by a green, and sent to jail.

In jail, which was, by the way, nowhere near the flag, there were a few other people. From our team, there was Ron, me, Lavender and Harry. Half of the offense team. There weren't any of the yellow team, but there were 2 members of the blue team.

We basically just walked around the jail area for a few minutes. We didn't sit down, though, because we knew that if we did, we had less chance of escaping.

5 minutes later, we reds were rescued. Well, except Ron. He got caught on the way back to our territory.

We kept trying and failing for a while, but it wasn't going very well. It just went the same way, every single time, and eventually, we decided that we needed a plan. When we were all back in our territory, with the exception of Ron, we decided to have a meeting.

The offense players quickly reconvened, whilst the defence kept the other teams away, to decide what to do next. We were still after the greens, but we needed some sort of plan to have any chance of winning.

Leaving one behind, in case we all got put in jail, the remaining offense players, 7 of us, ran straight into green territory. That made sure that we would have a better chance of getting the flag, as we would be able to have all of the other team occupied with trying to catch us. Well, that was the plan, anyway.

It helped that I knew where the flag was, so we knew exactly where to run. Another part of the plan was taking it from 2 sides, which would hopefully distract the other team for a second.

5 of us made it to the flag this time, and seeing as none of the others were any faster than me, even though I wasn't the fastest either, I was given the flag.

I ran through the trees in the green section, desperately avoiding anyone from another team, running as fast as I could, and getting easily out of breath. But, I had to get that flag, I had to win.

As the boundary line became closer, I made myself run faster, and it was getting harder to avoid them. I didn't know how many of my teammates were left, but they would all be free once I got the flag back to our flag, but I knew we would be okay once we got back to our territory. If you had the flag, you could still be tagged in your own territory, but then our team could tag them too, so I'd be okay. I would still need to keep running though.

When I got into my own territory, I ran slower. It was getting harder to breathe properly, but I had to do it, I had to win.

Thankfully, my team quickly took care of most of the greens who were in pursuit, and took the flag to our flag. I was ecstatic, we had beaten the greens, and by beating them, we had also gotten our lost teammates back. The only real downside was that I had to sit out for the rest of the game, because I was sweaty, exhausted, and seriously out of breath. It was fun, but I doubted that I would be doing it again in the future.

The blues were out too, and it was just the reds versus the yellows. In compensation for losing me, they got their pick out of anyone from the two losing teams. Basically, they just asked who was fastest, and took that guy. And that guy was _fast_. Faster than most, anyway.

Still, it didn't help them win. The yellows had all of the other fast people, which was totally unfair, but that was just how it was. The yellows won before the reds even got to see the yellow flag.

Still, second place wasn't too bad. At least I got to recover from... well, not breathing.

After we were finished, Remus gathered us all around again.

"Well done everyone. You all did very well. Especially the reds and the yellows. Now, I'm sure you would all like a shower. However, I'm afraid that there aren't very many showers here, so as the entire school is wanting to shower about now, so the best place to go right now, believe it or not, is the river. Now, I know it's rather... odd, washing in a river, but it's the only place that there is. Don't worry, there's nothing in there, the river's been charmed, nothing in there's going to harm you. This river also goes away from Hogwarts, so our water source is not being polluted. Well, the river is past tent row T, and it's easy enough to find from there. Well, actually, there's two rivers. There's another river, but far in front of the A row. The A river is for boys, and the T river is for girls. Well, it's up to you. You can wash in the river, or wait a few hours for a shower. But, if you use a river, you should really be wearing your swimming costumes."

I didn't like the idea of washing in a river, but at least nothing was going to get to me, like a leach, or a fish, and I really did need a wash. Hopefully it wasn't going to be too bad.

It was just after 3:30 PM when we got back to the tents. Everyone in our tent went and changed into their swimming costumes, and got their shower stuff. It wasn't like we were going to strip where anyone could see us, and Remus' advice was wise. It was better to do it wearing your swimmers.

It was a large river, already occupied by lots of other students, but I knew there were still a lot to come.

Most of the other girls were wearing bikinis, tankinis, or one-piece swimsuits. Obviously, they preferred to be modest too.

I went a little further upstream, where it was less occupied. The water was also a bit cleaner there. It still had a fair few people bathing there, though.

It was certainly an experience. I wouldn't really want to do it again, but at least it got rid of the sweat.

When we were done, we wrapped up in towels, drying off what we could and we ran back to our tent.

We dried and dressed properly, and cleaned our old sets of clothes using some simple charms we knew.

It was after 4, and dinner was at 6. The rest of the day was free, and we were glad. We were all really tired from all of the running and walking, and lots of people's feet were starting to hurt, including my own.

I knew I was going to have to start making that potion to help save people soon, and I knew that there weren't very many places that I could really do it, and the only place that sprang to mind was Myrtle's bathroom. It wasn't like I had a choice.

It took a lot just to make one dose, which was why it was a very rare potion. But, it was one of the most useful potions I would ever make, but I had to make it alone.

I would much rather have made it with Hermione, but I couldn't risk her knowing, I couldn't really risk anyone knowing. For now.

Everyone in our tent was just sitting, doing their own thing, in the main area of the tent. Well, it was much bigger in there, anyway.

It was just after half past 4, when my father came looking for me at our tent.

"Excuse me, Granger, but seeing as you're a know it all, could you tell me where Aurora is?" Dad asked disdainfully.

"Professor... she's sat right next to me." She told him, matter-of-factly..

He looked at me, and said, "I need to speak with you, outside."

I sighed. I really just wanted to stay sat down. I was tired, my muscles were aching, and I couldn't be bothered to move. Unfortunately, though, we were going to be having a conversation that I didn't want the Patil twins and Lavender Brown to hear.

I walked to where Dumbledore talked to us with my father, and we talked.

"Aurora I- I- I'm sorry about earlier. It's been wrong of me to compare you to Lily."

I nodded, "I guess I kinda... over reacted. I look so much like her, it's only natural that... that you might think I _was _her. But dad, I'm not. She died 12 years ago. I've seen it enough times to know that. Unrequited love sucks. And Dad, my name isn't Lily, and it isn't Aurora. It's Rory. I mean, Aurora's great, but seriously, call me something else once in a while. And lay off Hermione. She's one of my best friends."

I felt a lot more at ease. I knew that I had probably overreacted earlier, but it wasn't good for my father for him to think that I was Lily, was it?

He nodded, "I know. But you just... she would have liked you. She liked anyone. Now, can you go back to your regular appearance?" He asked.

I nodded, and concentrated on my usual appearance. It was less conspicuous, anyway. It had been odd, walking around for about 9 hours, looking like some sort of Japanese anime character. I mean, the hair I had, that purpley-blue coloured short hair, that was kinda nice, but I had grown to hate those eyes, just in 9 hours. I should have just got angry, and then they'd have gone red, which was a little better. Then again, my hair would have done that too...

"I'm kinda tired, dad... can I go back now?"

He nodded, and I went back to the tent.

"See you've gone back to normal." Ginny said.

"Yeah. I had a few things to sort out with dad. Besides, I like me this way."

"Yeah. Snape is a bit..."

"I know, Ginny. But, it doesn't change the fact that he's my dad. I just wish he'd lay off the Gryffindors... I mean, you know?"

Most of the tent nodded in agreement with me. They knew what he was like in class.

"Well, Pavarti and I are going to go see some friends now. See you later." Lavender said, getting a few things together to leave the tent with.

Pavarti and Lavender left soon after, leaving Padma with us. Padma didn't mind at all, and continued to read, as she had been doing earlier.

"Do you think we'll do anything... magic related tomorrow?" I asked.

"I hope so. Hopefully nothing as active as today, though." Lexi replied.

"I hope we go for a walk," Luna said, you know, to look at nature."

I nodded in agreement. That would be nice.

"Does anyone want to go have a campfire after dinner? There's a perfect place, not too far into the woods." Buffy asked.

Everyone agreed, including Padma. Hopefully we'd do something else. The fire would be a nice change anyway, and hopefully we would be feeling better from the afternoon activity by then.

"Should we go ask the boys too? It'd be nice company."

"That's a good idea, Hermione." Padma said.

"Is there anyone you want to invite?" Bella asked her.

"Not really." She replied.

"We'll invite Lavender and Pavarti when they come back." Lexi told her.

Dinner came at exactly 6 PM. By then, we had already asked Harry and the other guys we knew in their tent, and they agreed to come. We also managed to track down Fred and George, who were also going to come to our campfire, with a few of their friends.

It was a good opportunity for me to introduce Maggie to them, and I found her in a tent full of other girls her age, and she wanted to come too, mainly to meet some other people her age.

It made my feet kill to go looking for all of those people, but it was worth it to be able to hang out with them later.

On my search, I also saw Draco Malfoy, sat on a bench, talking to a girl who I assumed was my sister. Unfortunately, though, I didn't hear any of their conversation.

Thankfully, we were given a large dinner, so we felt a lot better in the end.

We got ready just after dinner and left to collect our friends for the campfire just after half past 7, aiming to get to the clearing at 8, after fetching all of the people who were coming with us.

Five minutes after we had entered the forest, Maggie said, "I thought you said it wasn't far into the forest?"

"Well, it's not that far into it, besides, we've only been walking for 5 minutes. It's nice there, just be patient." Buffy told her.

"Fine. I just hope it's worth it."

"It is." I told her simply.

It was a fairly quiet walk there. We were all quite tired, but we did want to have a proper camping experience. Just without the campfire singing. That could have been embarrassing, because the entire school could have heard us.

When we got there, it was just as it had been earlier, but the thestrals had since moved on to somewhere else.

"You were right, it is nice here." Maggie said.

"I don't mean to be rude or anything, but how are we going to start a fire?" Bella asked.

"We put the wood in there," I pointed to the stone circle, "and then cast incendio on it." I told her. It was simple enough really.

"Oh, right." She blushed. It wasn't her fault that she didn't know.

Whilst everyone else was sat down, talking, Hermione and I were still stood up, casting the levitation charm on the wood to get it into the fire pit.

Once we were sure that there was enough wood, Hermione sat down, and I took my wand, "Incendio." I said, doing the appropriate arm movement.

We had a good time at the campfire. Everyone got to know each other better, and we came back from it much better off. We returned to our tents just before 10 PM. Our tent went to sleep sometime after midnight, and just as I predicted, we all slept in the main area, and everyone had a peaceful night's sleep.

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**Okay, I worked really hard this time, and it's over 8000 words, and seeing as my normal chapters are, like, 1500 words, can I please get a review or two this time?**

**Well, I start school on monday, so I don't know when updates are going to be.**

**Sorry if i got anything wrong. I've never really been camping, and I've never really played that game either.**

**Kaisha **


	13. The Murder of Albus Dumbledore

**I don't own Harry Potter, or anything from that universe, the AMAZING Joanne Rowling does. I cannot claim ownership of any of it :'( Okay, I _know_ that this is late, but life's been shit, I got really sick, and it's now the school holidays, and I finally have no homework, but my leg is killing me because I hurt it rather badly at school. If there's anyone left reading this, please review just so I know that you're out there. **

**I also know that the vision scene is the movie version, and some of you may hate me for that, but that is because I can't find the book. I can't borrow a copy from the library because I have an irrational fear of libraries and library books.**

**Please don't hate me.**

* * *

The next morning, I awoke feeling groggy and stiff. But that was the beauty of camping, I supposed.

I was the first awake in our tent, but I doubted I was the first awake overall. It was rather early, and breakfast had yet to arrive. It was the perfect time to do some studying, or have a walk. Either one would do, or both.

So, I decided to do neither. Instead, I put on my outfit for the day, and grabbed my broom. I hadn't been able to do any riding over the summer, so I really wanted to practise. Unfortunately, though, it was a bit hard to practise alone, and without a single one of the Quidditch balls, but that was just something I would have to deal with. I wasn't in a school team, so even though I could still practise whenever I pleased, no-one really cared whether or not non-team players got the correct equipment or not.

I mounted my broom and kicked off from the ground. I had really forgotten how fast a Firebolt was, but it was no problem, I wouldn't be riding very far anyway. I only went into that forest from the previous night, but I went further than I had with my friends. Why shouldn't I have?

It was just the same old woods past the clearing which we had spent the evening in, nothing too special. So, a few minutes later, I turned back, and headed back to the clearing, it wasn't like there was much else to do at that time of morning.

With my broom hovering beside me, I took in a shaky, deep breath, and I embraced the oncoming darkness.

_I was looking right at myself and Harry holding Dumbledore up, trying to keep him stood up when he was clearly too weak. We had just apparated into the Astronomy tower with Dumbledore. He was the only one who could, apparition was impossible inside, into, or out of Hogwarts unless you were headmaster, or it was during an official apparition lesson in the Great Hall. _

_We dragged him to the side of the tower, where there was a windowsill on which he could sit. We sat him on it, and gave him a moment to breathe._

"_Rory, you stay here with Dumbledore, I'll go get Madame Pomfrey. She'll have you well soon, Professor, you'll see."_

"_No, Harry, I don't need her. Get Severus. He's the one I need. Wake him, tell him what happened. He'll know what to do. Speak to no-one else, Harry."_

_Harry sighed, nodded, and got up, and began to go out, down from the Astronomy Tower. _

_I saw myself give a sad, yet knowing look at Dumbledore, and I opened my mouth to say something, but I was interrupted, because we heard a few odd, booming sounds from somewhere else in the castle. _

_Dumbledore struggled to stand, and he quickly told us, "Hide yourselves below. Make sure you stay quiet, and make sure you don't speak to or be seen by anybody without my permission. Trust me, Harry. And Rory..." he paused after saying my name, and, after locking eyes, he nodded at me, and I seemed to know exactly what he meant by the nod._

_Harry paused by the stairs, whilst I gave Dumbledore a tearful hug. I was slightly confused about it, but I just had to let it go, assuming I would realise why I was so tearful later. _

_I ran off with Harry, and we ran to the lower level. Harry went to a place where he could easily see what Dumbledore was up to, whereas I went and leaned against the wall, unwilling to look at what was going on. _

"_Rory, are you okay?" Harry whispered._

"_No, Harry. Look, if you don't stay quiet, I'm going to have to cast the Body Bind spell on you, and I don't want to do that." I whispered._

"_I... I don't understand..."_

"_Of course you don't, you're one of my many, stupid older brothers, now shut up and keep your eyes on Dumbledore." I told him, wiping a tear off my cheek as I cried. _

_Harry turned around, just in time to see Draco Malfoy walking up the stairs, to Dumbledore's level. _

_Up on Dumbledore's level, Dumbledore had now managed to gather enough strength to stand up properly on his own, and Draco had his wand pointed at him. _

"_Good evening, Draco." Dumbledore said, "What brings you here on this fine spring evening?"_

"_Who else is here?" Draco asked, "I heard you talking."_

"_Oh, I often talk aloud to myself. I find it extraordinarily useful. Have you been whispering to yourself, Draco?"_

_The two of them were very slowly walking around in a circle, at either end of the tower's top level._

"_Draco, you are no assassin." Dumbledore told him, _

"_How do you know what I am? I've done things that would have shocked you." Draco's voice was panicked. I didn't really know him, but it definitely wasn't how he usually sounded, ignoring the fact that his voice was deeper, of course. It didn't sound right, either way. _

"_Like cursing Madam Rosmerta and Katie Bell, and hoping that they would return a cursed necklace to me?" He paused, "Like replacing Professor Slughorn's present for me, a bottle of Mead, with one laced with poison? Forgive me Draco, but I can't help feeling that these actions are so weak that your heart can't really have been in it." He seemed... odd. Like he was almost taunting Draco, but I dismissed it, Dumbledore would never do something like that. _

"_He trusts me!" He said, "I was chosen!" He seemed even more panicked now, and pulled up one off his sleeves, revealing a moving Dark Mark on his forearm. The mark of a death eater. Draco wasn't cut out to be a Death Eater, though. I'd seen that. Besides, he was too much of a wimp, really. He would end up with a normal job, a normal family, one kid named after a sedative/poison type thing, another named after a bird, another after constellations, and another after Greek goddesses. So, like every other normal family, really._

"_I shall make it easy for you." Dumbledore told him, pulling out his wand. _

_Seeing this, Draco immediately thrust his wand out, and cast expelliarmus on Dumbledore's wand, and it flew out of Dumbledore's hand, landing by one of the telescopes in the tower. _

_Seeing this, Harry pulled out his wand, and pointed it at Draco. The me that was by the wall didn't really notice, and was still quietly crying away. I couldn't really tell myself not to let my idiot brother be so stupid, though, and I wasn't going to remember on my own, obviously._

"_Draco... Draco..." Dumbledore began, but he was interrupted by the sound of a door opening and closing loudly. "You're not alone, there are others. How?" He asked._

"_The Vanishing Cabinet in the room of requirement. I've been mending it."_

"_Let me guess, it has a sister – a twin, no less."_

"_Borgin and Burkes. They form a passage."_

"_Ingenious." Dumbledore said, "Draco, years ago, I knew a boy who made all the wrong choices. Please let me help you." He was sincere, but this only made Draco even more distressed. _

"_I don't want your help." He told him. He was very distressed by now, and I was sure that he was actually crying, but I didn't have a close enough look at him, "You don't understand... I have to do this... I have to kill you... or he's gonna kill me" Okay, then, he was definitely crying._

_He was slowly lowering his wand, he couldn't do it. _

_Unfortunately, before he could let Dumbledore go, a few death eaters arrived up the stairs. Harry didn't see them arrive though, as both Harry and I had moved to a different section of the lower part of the Astronomy tower, which was shrouded in darkness._

_Draco quickly put his wand back up, pointed straight at Dumbledore's head._

_I recognised the invading Death Eaters as Acymus and Alecto Carrow, Fenrir Greyback, Yaxley, and Bellatrix Lestrange. _

_Bellatrix gave a small, cunning smile when she saw that her nephew had the Hogwarts Headmaster at wandpoint, "Ah, Look what we have here," She approached her miserable-looking nephew, and whispered into his ear, "Well done, Draco."_

"_Good evening, Bellatrix," Dumbledore said, "I think introductions are in order, don't you?"_

"_Love to, Albus." She said, walking towards Dumbledore "But I'm afraid we're on a bit of a tight schedule." She turned to her nephew, "Do it."_

"_He doesn't have the stomach, just like his father. Let me finish him in my own way." _

"_No!" Bellatrix interrupted, "The Dark Lord has ordered the boy to do it." She turned again to Draco, "This is your moment, do it. Go on, Draco, now!"_

_Meanwhile, on the floor below, Harry was about to disarm Draco, which would have immediately revealed both of our locations to the 5 Death Eaters and the scared little teenager up on the top level of the Astronomy tower. _

_Thankfully, however, Harry glanced down and turned around, and he saw that both I and my father had our wands pointed at him as a warning. Obviously, we didn't want him to intervene. Dad watched as Harry put his wand away, and then he put his finger on his lip, and backed away, with his wand still drawn. _

_I stood beside Harry now, with tears staining my face. I had yet to put away my wand, but it was no longer pointed at my brother. I also took note that this was a different wand to the one I had at the time, it had similar features, but there was no doubt about it, by the time this happened, I would have a new wand. Not that it mattered._

_A few seconds later, Snape appeared on the top floor of the Astronomy Tower, "No," He said. _

_Draco, although still extremely panicked, was slightly relieved to see my father, and he backed away, to a small corner as my father moved to Draco's previous spot. He wasn't going to kill him... no, he couldn't, he wouldn't... would he?_

_Dumbledore glanced down for a second, and locked eyes with Harry, then with me, before looking up again, and saying, "Severus..." There was a long pause of silence in both floors of the Astronomy Tower, and Harry was becoming agitated, and I grabbed his hand as a futile attempt at comforting him, "Please..." Dumbledore continued._

_Dad gripped his wand even tighter and pointed it at Dumbledore, casting the Killing Curse. A green light came from his wand, hitting Dumbledore. The mere force of the spell flung him off the tower, but he was already dead. Murdered by Snape._

_Harry was so shocked that he could barely move an inch. I was crying again, but I had good reason. Of course I did. No wonder I had been crying earlier, I knew it was coming. _

_Bellatrix ran to the balcony on the tower, and a dark mark snaked its way out of her wand, casting a dark shadow over the dark castle._

As I was taken back to the light, I was angry with Snape, but I was suspicious. Dumbledore was weird to say the least, and I was sure that Snape seemed... off too.

I mean, I already knew that the Death Eaters were going to take over the Ministry of Magic, and Snape was going to be the Head of Hogwarts, but it seemed so wrong for him to become the Headmaster that way. And Dumbledore's death... I had seen it with my own two eyes, but, again, it seemed wrong for it to happen that way. Albus Dumbledore was the best wizard of our time, and his death was far too easy, far too simple.

When I imagined Dumbledore's death, I imagined him dying in battle, not just... dying. It felt wrong, and it was wrong.

I got up from the log, and rode back to the tent on my Firebolt. I wasn't sure what to feel, but I supposed that being in the tent, where people knew where I was, was better than me being somewhere where they would all be worrying about me.

It was an easy day in the end, the main and only activity of the day being a good old fashioned Quidditch tournament, for everyone but the first years. They were taken away with Flitwick, Sprout, and a few of the nicer teachers to do goodness knows what, leaving us older kids with the... more difficult ones, including Snape and McGonagall.

Before the tournament, Madame Hooch gave us all a 30 minute refresher course in Quidditch, before giving us time to get into teams, well, she split the ones who knew what they wanted to play as from those who didn't, and had us get into teams. They weren't all full though. At that point, I was in a team with Fred and George, who, after hearing that I was going to be a seeker in the games I played, immediately rushed to my side, deciding that I was more worthy of their protection than Harry, the proper Gryffindor seeker.

We did get more team mates in the end though, obviously.

Over the course of the day, with lunch a few games in, we played fairly well. We won the loads of the games we played, and even made it all the way up to the semi finals. Harry's team did almost as well, getting to the quarter finals before losing their game. Not against us, though we did lost to the team they lost to in the Semi-Finals. They were also the team who won over all.

In the end, the whole school ended up eating both lunch and dinner together, seeing as the tournament took literally the entire day up. It was good, though. I didn't have to think about what Snape did in my vision, or talk much; I wasn't in the mood for it.

Everyone in my tent knew that something was up, they had to, after all, I was the only one not to sleep in the main compartment, and I spent the time that we had in the tent alone. I settled down to a peaceful sleep a little after ten.

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**There's another vision she's gotta have soon, and it'll be the first that's entirely my own. It'll change a few things, and is the one I mentioned earlier.**

**Please Review. I really would like for someone to be reading this. Unless I really am a crapulous writer like I think I am...**

**Kaisha :)**


	14. Extra Hours

**I don't own Harry Potter, or anything from that universe, the AMAZING Joanne Rowling does. I cannot claim ownership of any of it :'(**

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A few days later, it was time for school to begin. The rest of the camping trip carried on in the same fashion, and it was something I definitely wanted to do again. I avoided Snape for the remainder of the trip. I didn't have anything to say to him, and, despite being suspicious of the circumstances of his death, he still killed Dumbledore. That wasn't going to be an easily forgivable action.

It felt so good to be sleeping in a proper bed again, after a few nights in a tent everyone's backs were killing them. On the Monday afternoon, I was quite glad that there were no lessons, just going all the way up and down the stairs a couple of times was bad, but with lessons, it would have been a whole lot worse.

I spent the afternoon in the Library with Hermione. We were preparing for the lessons we were taking, beginning the very next day. We thought that it was best for us to be extra prepared, even though we had already done plenty of preparation over the holidays and the free time we had whilst camping, but with the lessons we had, it never hurt to be prepared.

I had a small breakfast with my friends, and then headed off to first lesson with Hermione. Technically, we had two first lessons, but we decided to both go to Ancient Runes first, we didn't think it was a good idea for us to be on separate times. No, it was much better this way, safer too.

Having to go all the way down to breakfast, then all the way back up to the Sixth floor, or all the way up the largest staircase we had to Divination, was a bit of a downer, seeing as the room was so close to Gryffindor Tower, but if I ever felt too lazy for breakfast, I would manage, I knew I would. It was only a few hours, besides; I could go to breakfast on my way to Divination, after Ancient Runes, but, technically before Ancient Runes, or sneak some food up to my room the night before and have it for breakfast. Hogwarts would be so much better if it had lifts, or even escalators, but, then again, I was scared of escalators, and lifts could always stop, or crash. Maybe we needed to be able to use brooms indoors, or the stairs could act like lifts... that would work...

The mere thought of time travelling had me feeling so ecstatic, I could hardly contain it, but, then again, I was sure that I would be sick of it by the end of the year.

Hermione and I were some of the first students to arrive in Professor Babbling's lesson. It was the traditional sort of classroom, 3 columns of desks and a few rows of them. We chose a seat in the middle together, a few desks in.

Buffy and Lexi arrived soon after, taking the desk beside us, on the right hand side.

"Hi Rory, Hermione. Looks like it's gonna be an interesting year." Lexi said.

I nodded in agreement.

A few minutes later, when everyone was in the room and seated Professor Babbling came in too. She was a woman, who looked to be in her late forties/early fifties, wearing small spectacles, perched on the end of her nose.

"Welcome to the Study of Ancient Runes, third years." She said, her voice was rather quiet, and had we been sitting any further back, we would have struggled to make out a word she said, "For the first few weeks of this term, amongst other activities, we shall focus our studies on the correct ways to use the books you have purchased for my subject, the books which you could be using all the way up to when you finish your education here at Hogwarts School."

After that, she went on to explain what a rune was, and other things that we would need to know for our years work. Obviously, she was teaching to the lowest common denominator, but it was still good enough for Hermione and I. We were both sure that after the first term, it would develop into a truly fascinating subject, which would keep both of us interested for plenty of time.

After almost an hour, Professor Babbling declared the lesson over, thankfully a few minutes early, Hermione and I quickly went back up to the dorm, and dropped off the books we no longer needed, and picked up the books for Divination. We had to be quick so that we weren't late.

We raced to Professor Trelawney's room, and entered. It was empty, of course, due to the fact that it was break time, but that didn't matter to us. We weren't going to be too late to the lesson which occurred an hour before, and that was all that mattered.

We stood at the back of the room, and got out our necklaces. We both turned them back once, less than a second apart, and we were taken back through time.

It was an odd sensation, travelling back in time. Not Apparating odd, but odd nonetheless. When I let go of the small knob on the necklace, it kept on going a few turns more, and time seemed to rewind. It took a few seconds, but soon enough we were in Professor Trelawney's lesson, and I was feeling pleased. It's not every day you get to travel backwards through time for the first time in your life.

Professor Trelawney had just started her start of term speech. We were quite lucky, really, that Professor Babbling had let us go a few minutes early, otherwise we could have missed something important.

Professor Trelawney looked much like she had the last time I had seen her, wearing her large glasses which made her look like she had an insect's eyes.

The other students were sat at small tables, on pink cushion chair things, with each table containing two students. We saw that, although there were spare seats to take to a table at the back of the room, there were no spare no spare tables.

Hermione quickly took a seat to Harry and Ron's table, and sat in-between them, at the back of the table.

I scanned the classroom, looking for a suitable place to sit. I didn't want to sit with some weirdoes who hated me, or anything.

I spotted Neville and Dean, sat just two tables away from Harry, Ron and Hermione, so I quickly dragged a pink cushiony seat over there, and joined them.

Thankfully, no-one really noticed, so I didn't have to do the difficult job of explaining where Hermione and I were, and what we were doing.

"...the Sight. Hello. I am Professor Trelawney. Together, we shall cast ourselves into the future. This term, we shall be focusing on tasseomancy, the art of reading tea leaves, if all goes well, we will proceed to palmistry, fire omens, and finally... the crystal ball. But, before we begin, you should know this, one either has the Gift or not. It cannot be divined from the pages of a book. Books only cloud one's Inner Eye." Okay, maybe she sounded a little... weird, but being a weird psychic kinda thing myself, it was something I thought I needed to learn, and whilst I was aware that it didn't really work in muggle society, I thought it could be different in the Wizarding world. Besides, either way, this class would be an easy Outstanding.

I heard Hermione whisper something, but I couldn't hear what, and then Ron replied, and then Hermione said something else. I didn't have a clue what, though, I was too far away to hear them.

Professor Trelawney walked over our table, specifically to Neville, and asked, "You, boy! Is your grandmother well?"

Neville seemed a bit surprised, and replied, "I... I think so..."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." She then turned to see Parvati, "By the way, dear, beware a red haired man." She turned to the class again, "Unfortunately, classes will be in February by a nasty bout of flu. I myself will lose my voice. And in late spring, one our number will... leave us forever."

Seeing as I knew that no-one was going to die, I could only assume that someone was going to move schools, or quit this class. Well, I hadn't seen any deaths, anyway...

Most of the rest of the class, however, was looking very worried.

"Well then," The professor said, "Shall we?"

She then sent us all to collect ourselves a tea cup. Yes, the first thing that we were going to do in Divination was to each drink a cup of tea. How exciting.

When we got up to collect our mugs, Neville finally noticed that I was there, and he looked at me confusedly. He was likely sure that it was only he and Dean on that table, and yet there I was, in-between them on the table.

At the back of the room, there were both blue and pink teacups, most boys chose blue teacups, and many girls chose pink teacups. Myself, I chose a blue tea cup. I wasn't really fond of that shade of pink it made me feel like an old lady, and the colour in general reminded me of Dolores Umbridge.

Then, everyone had a cup of old fashioned tea, with tea leaves rather than with a tea bag, and we all had to leave a little of the liquid and the tea leaves in there so that it would be possible for us to read the tea leaves.

After everyone drank their tea, Professor Trelawney spoke again, "Now, take your Unfogging the Future textbooks, and turn to the section on Tasseomancy, which starts on page 5."

We all got our books out from under the tables, as there was no real room to put them on the tiny tables set up for afternoon tea, and turned to the Section on Tasseomancy, which really did start on page 5, and saw that it gave definitions and explanations of different tea leaf symbols.

I looked in my cup, and saw a cross, meaning trials and suffering; an axe, meaning that I had the power to overcome those difficulties; a rose, meaning new romance; the Sun, meaning happiness; and an angel meaning protection. That made sense. Not. So, it looked like I was going to suffer, manage to overcome it, be happy, have someone looking out for me, and probably fall for someone. I mean, I knew that some of that was true, but it just seemed a bit odd for it to be predicted in a tea cup. And all at once.

The Professor then began fluttering about the classroom, reading some people's tealeaves, giving them advice about their futures.

Then, she stopped at our table, and looked like she was about to say something to me, before turning and going over to Parvati and Lavender's table, and peering into it, "A five leaf clover..." She said, "You can expect to wake up with a nasty rash tomorrow, dear."

She then walked back over to our table, and, instead of talking to me, she said to Neville, oh so casually, "Mr Longbottom, after you've broken your first cup," as if on cue, Neville dropped his cup, and it smashed below him on the floor, "would you be so kind as to select another blue one? I am rather partial to the pink ones."

He nodded, and selected another blue cup, whilst an enchanted dustpan and brush cleared the broken cup away. He then had another cup of tea.

A few minutes later, after seeing that Harry and Ron had opted to swap cups, Professor Trelawney approached their table, and spoke to Ron, "What do you see in Mr Potter's cup, Mr Weasley?"

"Um..." He looked to his textbook, and at the cup, trying to decipher the images before him, "He's got sort of a wonky cross, that means trials and suffering, and that can be the sun, which means happiness, so..." He looked to Harry, "You're going to suffer... but you're going to be happy about it..."

Professor Trelawney then took the cup from Ron, and looked in it for just a second before she had to steady herself, she had nearly dropped it.

She placed the cup back on the table, and, looking fearful, she said, "My dear... you have... The Grim..."

"The Grin?" Seamus asked, "What's The Grin?"

"Not The Grin, you idiot, The Grim." Parvati corrected him.

"What'sThe Grim?" Dean asked.

"The Grim," Lavender began, reading from her textbook, "Taking the form of a giant spectral dog, it is among the darkest omens in our world. It is an omen... of death."

The rest of the lesson carried on in much of the same fashion, but no-one could escape the thought of Harry's Grim. It was much sourer, and no-one was in a good mood."

Then, it was break. It had seemed like it would never come. I supposed that I would have to get used to it; after all, I had at least 3 full years of this. More often than not, I would be having a 25, or 26 hour day, rather than the normal 24. Well, at least I had my time turner. If ever I was struggling to complete my homework, I could venture off into a secluded corner, and give myself a few extra hours, or if I had finished far too late, I could use my time turner to go back to a far more reasonable hour and get a few extra hours sleep. I would definitely need it.

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**Hi. It's about midnight now where I am, and I'm tired. I started school again today and I can't guarantee an update next week, the week after, or the week after that in fact. I have these stupid Prelims which kinda have to take priority. Sorry. Okay. I'm really tired now. Hope you liked the chapter :) Oh - and by the way, there's a poll up which I'd like you to take a look at. (And all the characters included are real characters I've made up for the story, already written in my special book and everything) **

**And a belated happy Halloween, to you all. (And a happy new year to anyone who is Wiccan)**

**Night readers :) **

**Kaisha :)**


	15. Care of Magical Creatures

**I don't own Harry Potter, or anything from that universe, the AMAZING Joanne Rowling does. I cannot claim ownership of any of it :'(**

**Sorry if it ever sounds a bit pantomime-y. As a part of my Drama GCSE I'm the Genie in Aladdin and I've got all of these (rhyming) lines :/**

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Break came and went in the twinkling of an eye, and we soon found ourselves on our way to care of Magical Creatures.

The class gathered in front of Hagrid's Hut, ready for him to take us to see some magical creatures. We didn't exactly have a classroom, what with Hagrid being a bit too tall to go through most of the doors in the castle.

Once he was sure that we were all there, he led us into the forest. I walked slightly behind my brother, Hermione, and Ron, with Neville. Everyone in the class was holding their snarling books, only prevented from causing mayhem by being held shut by belts or spellotape. I was likely the only one who knew how to open the Monster Book of Monsters, but I wasn't going to say that, was I?

"How do you think we open these monsters, Aura?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "Hagrid will probably tell us sooner or later. Besides, it's funny when you mess up." I told him.

"Yeah, but we've got Malfoy here. It's just worse with him here."

"Yeah, I know, but... that's just how it is. We can't exactly go back in time and stop him choosing this subject, or... I don't know... give him to a nice family to raise, can we?"

"I 'spose so... What do you think we'll be doing this year, anyway?"

"Oh... I dunno, probably won't be as exciting as last year. I'm going to be really busy, anyway... I've got a lot on my plate... Anyway, are you looking forward to going to Hogsmeade?"

"Yeah. I've heard a lot about Honeydukes, and there's the Shrieking Shack too! I'm surprised that you're going though."

"Me too, actually. Apparently, it was something about me being a third year now, and me being of the right 'mental age' to go. Unless you haven't figured it out yet, my dad wasn't happy..."

"I've never seen him happy..."

"I have... not often though... he's just... sad about things. It's complicated though..."

"I guess so... but he scares me... a lot."

"Believe me, not as much as Voldemort scares me..."

"Yeah... but... I couldn't imagine that... I mean, I still feel guilty about what happened when you saw my parents... 5 months, Rory. If I hadn't have taken you with me, then it might not have happened..."

"It's not your fault, Neville. It probably would have happened anyway. Besides, she screamed in my face. Screams do tend to freak me out."

"But I should have warned you..."

"Neville, or the last time, it's not your fault. If you keep arguing with me, then I am not going to be a happy bunny. Actually, I can give myself an animal makeover type thing. Tonks does that too."

"How are you so calm about this?"

I shrugged my shoulders again, "I just am, Neville. I've always been a freak, but I've just... changed since last year."

We walked the rest of the way quietly. There was just nothing else to be said. It was a comfortable silence, and we were fine with it.

Hagrid gathered us in a clearing, quite different to the one that we had been in during the Camping Trip, but it was still a lovely clearing, with plenty of space for us, Hagrid, and any animals that he wanted to teach us about.

"Gather round, everyone, find yourself a spot. That's it! Now, open your books, and –"

He was cut off by Draco, asking, "And how exactly do we do that then, _professor_?"

Hagrid chuckled, "Why you stroke the spine, of course! How goodness me..."

Students took this as an opportunity to put their bags down and open their books, and it went well, for the most part... Unsurprisingly, Neville's attempt at opening his book didn't end too well. The book ended up attacking his face, throwing him to the floor, and covering him with little scraps of mystery paper. I wasn't quite close enough to him to stop him, having moved slightly closer to the front of the crowd, nearer to Hermione and Harry.

Draco laughed at him as he stood up and opened his books after brushing his robes, "Watch your face, Longbottom."

Neville joined me near to my brother, and Hagrid continued, "Anyway, you've got your books, now I'll go fetch the animals for today's lesson."

He walked off the other side of the clearing. Draco and his gang took this as an opportunity to come and torment us. Seriously, it was annoying sometimes.

"God, this place is going to the dogs. Wait until Father hears that Dumbledore's got this oaf teaching," He scoffed, saying the whole sentence loudly for all to hear.

Harry walked towards him, "Shut up Malfoy, you stupid prick," I was sure he was going to continue, but Malfoy stumbled backwards, pointing at the air above us.

"Dementor, Dementor!" He cried.

Practically the entire class turned around, to see nothing. You see, we had no-one to tell us otherwise, the only people in a position to see whether or not there were dementors were Draco, his goons, the rest of the Slytherins, and a few unpleasant Ravenclaws.

By the time we turned back around, they all had their hoods up, and were mocking us as if they were really Dementors and laughing in our faces too. How pleasant.

"Just ignore him, guys. He's an idiot." Hermione said.

After seeing the state that Neville was in, Ron, walking past him, casually told him, "You're supposed to stroke it."

We then returned to being gathered around in that semi-circle, when we saw that Hagrid had returned with a creature that I recognised as a Hippogriff, namely Buckbeak. Hagrid also had a load of dead ferrets with him, with which, he would, presumably feed Beaky.

"Say hello to Buckbeak. Isn't he beautiful? We have a whole bunch of these here, but I thought it'd be best to just show you the one for now."

"What is that, Hagrid?"

"That, Ron, is a Hippogriff."

Beaky was standing there, looking proudly out at the class, his wings in, his grey feathers being ruffled by the wind, and his head held high. Well, Hippogriffs were proud creatures.

Hagrid continued, "First thing you wanna know is they're very proud creatures, very easily offended. You do not want to insult a hippogriff. It may be the last thing you ever do. Now, who'd like to come up and say hello?"

Hagrid was turned around, facing Beaky, so he didn't see that the entire class, with the exception of Harry, moved backwards, well, and me. I would have remained with Harry at the front of the class had Neville not literally pulled me back, before he hid himself under a rock.

Harry was then left alone at the front of the class, just in time for Hagrid to turn back around and say, "Well done Harry, Well done." He paused, "Come on, now." Harry was thoroughly confused; with the rest of the class at least a full two strides behind him, when they were right beside him before. I was sure he was a bit annoyed. With Harry showing no signs of moving forward, Ron pushed him, making him begin to go towards Hagrid and our friend Beaky.

When Hagrid deemed that Harry was close enough to Buckbeak, he stopped him, and said, "Now, you gotta let him make the first move, it's only polite. So, step forward, and give him a nice bow. Then, you've got to wait, and see if he bows back. If he doesn't... well, we'll get to that later. Nice and low, mind, Harry."

Harry did as he was told, and stepped forward slightly, giving him a stiff bow, and then he looked up to see Beaky's reaction.

Beaky started to walk forward, fluttering his wings in offence. Before Beaky could get too close to Harry, Hagrid quickly told him to, "Back off, Harry! Back off!"

Harry quickly did as he was told, all the while, staying bowed.

He looked up again, and to everyone's relief, Beaky returned the bow.

"Well done, Harry, well done." Hagrid then threw a ferret to Buckbeak, which he quickly, and happily gobbled up, I think you can go and give him a pat now, Harry."

Hagrid was doing his best to encourage Harry to come towards him and Buckbeak. I suppose that he was just trying to show the class that Buckbeak was safe, as long as you behaved around him. He wasn't doing that great of a job to be honest.

When he got up to Beaky, he cautiously gave his head a small stroke, before realising that, a, is hand had not been eaten, b, the hippogriff had lovely soft feathers that (probably) felt good on his hands, and c, the hippogriff was happily moving his head to make the most of his nice little stroking. So, Harry smiled, and stroked him again, and the class clapped.

Hagrid approached Harry, and said, "Well done Harry, well done," giving him a good old pat on the back, "I think he may just let you ride him now."

"What!" He said, alarmed.

"Come on." Hagrid said. Clearly, my brother was going to ride a hippogriff whether he wanted to or not.

He easily picked him up, and placed him onto the Hippogriff's back, whilst Harry was complaining, "Hey, Hagrid!"

"Mind you don't pull out any of his feathers now, he won't like that." And with a slap to Buckbeak's bum, Harry was sent away on the galloping hippogriff, gripping tightly to his feathers. Just a few seconds later, we were all amazed; Harry was flying in the sky on Beaky.

"Right then," Hagrid said, "I'll just be leaving you for a few minutes, till Harry's back. Probably bring out a few more of them so you all get a go on one."

"So," I turned to Neville, "What do you think of Beaky?"

"Who?"

"Beaky... Buckbeak... The Hippogriff... Harry is riding on him..."

"Oh, right. He seems a bit... scary, but nice too..."

"I like hippogriffs. Well, to be honest, I like any creature. They're all so cute and sweet and alive and everything."

"Can we go see the Thestrals soon?"

"I don't see why not, Neville. I'll ask Luna at lunch, I know she likes to go too, so we can go with her next time she goes. You know, there's probably gonna be a lesson on them one day, and we're going to be some of the only ones who can see them. We're special." I smiled.

"Yeah, I guess we are." He smiled back at me, "When do you think Harry's gonna be back?"

"Probably just a few minutes. He's probably having this amazing tour of the Hogwarts grounds. God, I'd probably kill for that right now. It'd be nice. Mind you, the last few days were amazing, but... you never really get to see Hogwarts from there. I bet it's beautiful. Oh, but just imagine it at dawn or at sunset. With all of the colours in the sky, it would be absolutely perfect... The castle, the forest, the lake, the stables, the towers, the... squid... okay, maybe not the squid as much, but you get the point, right?"

He nodded, "I only asked you when you thought Harry was going to be back."

"My thoughts distract me... sorry... I'll just..." I smiled awkwardly, as I backed away to Ron and Hermione.

"Isn't it great that Harry gets this private... flight of the grounds?" I said.

"Yeah... scary as hell though..." Ron replied.

"Wish you'd volunteered for it now?" I asked him.

"No! He could've gotten his arm bitten off or cut off with that thing's massive claws; he could fall off and go splat. I think he's an idiot."

"You do know that he didn't even volunteer, right? He didn't realise that the entire class, except him, well, and me but I got pulled back by Neville but that doesn't really matter right now, had stepped back. What, you expect him to be a psychic?"

"Says the one."

"Excuse me, but I can't control whether or not I see something. I may know exactly what I'm naming my children, and how many I'm having, and I may have also seen something that contradicts that, but that, Ronald Weasley, does not mean that I have to have seen everything."

"Bloody hell."

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, you stop that right now! You clearly do not understand the poor girl. None of us know what she knows. Would you care to see people you care about dying? Do you think it's easy for her? Now, Ronald, apologise at once." I really liked it when Hermione showed Ron who was boss. It made me smile, especially when she was defending me. I doubted that Ron would ever understand girls, never mind me.

"Sorry, Rory..."

"Well, Ronald, if you ever talk to anyone, especially a girl, like that again, you'd better become better at apologizing."

And then, just as Ron was going to try and dig him out of that big hole he'd got himself into, Harry came back on Beaky, looking a lot happier, and excited. He'd probably had an adrenaline rush or something. Hippogriffs _were _fast.

Hagrid helped Harry get off of Beaky, and said, "Well done Harry, well done Buckbeak!"

Most of the class, except the same aforementioned few, were saying stuff like, "Wow!", or "That was wicked, Harry!", or, if you were one of the aforementioned few, "Oh, please."

I walked over to Harry and Hagrid, who themselves were walking in my... general direction.

"How am I doing on my first day?" Hagrid asked Harry.

"Brilliant... Professor."

"If you carry on like this, you're going to be a real hit with the entire school." I told him.

Unbeknownst to us at the time, because we were facing the other way, Draco casually walked over to Beaky, even though he'd been warned not to, and said, "You're not dangerous at all, you great ugly brute, are you. Shows what that oaf knows."

We had turned around just in time to see Beaky bucking, waving his claws as if he was fighting an invisible foe in the air.

"Malfoy, no!" Hagrid cried, but it was too late. Already Beaky's claws were coming down on Draco, cutting up his arm.

Before Beaky could do any more damage, Hagrid threw a ferret to Beaky, which he quickly devoured, and he stepped in-between Draco and Beaky, just in case.

"Go away, you silly..." he told Beaky, and he complied, walking behind a nearby tree.

Draco was lying on the floor, clutching his arm, which was in not looking good, "It's killed me! It's killed me!"

"Calm down, Malfoy, Calm down, it's just a scratch!" Hagrid clearly didn't know what to do. He clearly wasn't expecting such an... eventful first day.

As if on cue, Hermione ran forwards, "Hagrid! He needs to be taken to the hospital!"

Hagrid sighed, "Okay! I'm the teacher, I'll do it!" He picked up Draco, "Class Dismissed!"

And with that, everyone in the class packed up their things, ready to spend the rest of the lesson in their common rooms, or their dorm, or just... somewhere about the school grounds.

It was a good rest though, balancing out the whole double first period thing.

The rest of the day was a lot more boring. Well, honestly, what could compare? I didn't have any new lessons or new teachers either, just Herbology, Astronomy Theory, Transfiguration, and a good old dose of Professor Binns in History of Magic, so again, it was rather boring in comparison to Care of Magical Creatures, and maybe Divination too.

I did talk to Luna, though, and we made plans to go feed the Thestrals, and see how they were doing, and how the babies had grown and everything the next evening, giving us time to settle, and arrange things. And at the end of the day, I had a nice relaxing sleep in the bed at Hogwarts that I was unlikely to ever take for granted after the whole 4 nights sleeping on the floor camping trip.

* * *

**I didn't think I could update yet, so yay! Okay, prelims start in 10 hours, school in like 8 and a half, and I have to get up in 7 and 20 minutes, and I'm so tired. I had this horrible allergic reaction to these tablets I have which at one point a few months back I thought was a really bad virus then I got it again and I realised it was an allergy. **

**Please review. It'll make me happy :)**

**Can you also take a look at the poll. You don't have to vote, but it'll make me happy too :)**

**Kaisha**


	16. Boy troubles and Death Eaters

**I don't own Harry Potter, or anything from that universe, the AMAZING Joanne Rowling does. I cannot claim ownership of any of it :'(**

**Okay, better warn you here, we have mean death eaters here, oh and I wrote this till 1 am last night, tried to post it, wrote this, then the internet went off, I'm tired, and... oh who cares, Deathly Hallows part 1 was awesome! I cried at Dobby's death, and it made me jump a lot, oh, and that bit where Dobby was on the Chandelier :') but still... I can't wait for Part 2, which I probably get to watch on my birthday!**

**My hands stink of Sulphur :( **

* * *

_I was having a vision, and I didn't really know what to expect. Well, would you if you were looking at two young girls, well, older than me but still not far into their teenage years, were sat on a sofa, both eating from a rather large tub of ice cream. _

_Then a woman came into the room, with ginger hair and green eyes, somewhat like my own. _

"_Are you feeling any better now you two?" She asked, sitting on a close armchair._

"_No. Mum, he was dating the both of us. I mean, we're cousins, the same age and everything, and we didn't realise he was cheating. We see each other every day as well!" The girl on the left said, she had reddish-brown hair, down slightly passed her shoulders and those familiar green eyes. _

"_Alice, honey, don't beat yourself up about it. It isn't your fault, it's _his_." The woman said. Alice... wait... I was going to have an Alice, I was sure of it..._

"_We were both dating him for long enough, we should have noticed something was up." The other girl said, she had chocolate brown hair, and hazel brown eyes. _

"_Yeah, mum, Dylan's exactly right. We should have known... _I _should have known, probably you too!"_

"_Alice..."_

"_I know... I know..." She had another large spoonful of a now slightly melted ice cream, "I just don't get how you and Aunt Chris got it so easy when it's so difficult for the rest of us... I mean, you both married your first boyfriends for god's sake! Why do we have to get all the heartbreaks?" Alice started sobbing into Dylan's shoulder then._

"_Alice, honey, and you too Dylan, listen to me. We only ended up marrying the first guys we dated because already knew, and in the end it kind of just... happened. You're the normal ones. And, actually, your Aunt Chris suffered some heartbreak once... mind you, he didn't have much choice in the matter, but still..."_

"_Mum, I know, you've told me, Emily, Izzy and Ari before. And you've probably told the boys too. And all of our cousins. Well, I do have, what... 23 aunts and uncles?" Alice said, after composing herself. _

"_Actually, Ali, I think there's at least 35. You've forgotten the ones Aunt Rory and Aunt Chris and... well everyone really aren't adopted into, or have married into the family. Take Aunt Luna for example... she's definitely not married to Uncle Harry, Uncle Fred, Uncle George, Uncle Bill, Uncle Charlie, Uncle Percy or Uncle Ron. Well, at least I hope not, because with the exception of Charlie, he isn't married anymore, they're all quite happily married. And I don't think it's possible to count cousins. Our family must be this huge portion of Hogwarts." Dylan said._

"_Well, at least you seem to be feeling better now. What are you going to do now?" I asked. Well at least I assumed it was me, what with that Dylan had been saying._

"_Well, Auntie, some of the cousins are coming over, a girl's night in kind of thing. They will be here in about 5 minutes. Can we?"_

"_Well, Dylan, I don't think I have much choice, do I? So, who is it coming over to my house?"_

"_Not many people... just the girls in our family or extended family or... whatever, who are roughly our age, maybe one or two years out... you know... Emily, obviously, she's already here, Laney's coming over, Aggie, Phee, Joey, Leah, Sally, Dominique, Molly, Lucy, Rose, Emmy's coming over too, wouldn't be fair for her to feel let out... I think I might have forgot somebody, but don't worry, you know all of them Aunt Rory. Hey, we're 14 now. We're good. We just need the girls over."_

"_Oh, and mum, we would appreciate it if you left us alone for the night. Its girl stuff. You know." Alice said._

"_Oh, don't worry... I was a teenager once too. And I'll be telling your dad to steer clear too Alice."_

"_Thanks." Alice smiled._

_And the vision faded to black. But I wasn't done yet. I hardly ever was after a nightmarey-visiony... thing._

_I was in a hallway of some... random place, the only real way to describe it really. _

_I heard some voices coming from a room right at the bottom of the hall, so, instinctively, I followed them. Well, they weren't coming any closer to me, so I had to go to them._

_As I got closer, what they were saying became a whole lot clearer._

"_So where did you get her?" A familiar voice asked, a woman._

"_Took her right from her school in France, we did. A bit more troublesome than house elves, but she does the job, and she's tall enough to do the job without the need of magic. Much slower though, but we can't have her doing anything to escape, now, can we? We don't let her near a wand, obviously." A different voice, again, familiar, but far less so, said. I had no idea who the voices belonged to, and although I desperately wanted to know who they belonged to, there was a part of me which desperately didn't, and I didn't understand why._

"_Has been a while since we last saw you though, and I must apologise. Blending into the muggle world can be difficult. And as we were stupid enough to adopt two children, it became all the more difficult." A different voice, just as familiar as the first, but male this time, said. It was starting to become a little eerie and I stopped in my tracks. Did I really want to know?_

"_Well, I suppose that going into hiding prevented you from being caught by the Aurors. Must have been hell being muggles though. And being around them all the time... I don't know how you coped." The second voice said. And I instantly knew what they were... Death Eaters..._

"_Well, we got rid of a few in our time. Doing our duty to get rid of them. And rightly so too! Almost killed one of those stupid children one time, but we were never caught. If we were, we would have only needed to obliviate their memories." The first voice said, and it instantly hit me, and although I was sure it wasn't true, I had to be sure. I instantly started walking again, much faster this time. I had to be sure, I _had _to know. _

"_How did you end up getting out of that place, then?" The second voice asked._

"_Those children we adopted? Turns out they were witches, and got accepted at Hogwarts. Of course we knew before they did, but when we found out, we were thankful. It was only a matter of time before we could carry on doing The Dark Lord's work. If they had been muggles, I don't know what we would have done. We'd have either had to fork out for boarding school or kill them... at any rate, when that oaf of a gamekeeper came knocking for them, we knew we had to leave quickly. We couldn't be recognised, and our wands weren't at hand. He took the little brats off of our hands for the whole summer and we couldn't have been happier, we just packed the essentials, and left." The first voice said, smirking. _

_I had reached the door and paused. I took a shaky deep breath and entered through the door. _

_Facing me were a couple of death eaters that, although I recognised, I couldn't quite put a name to. But that isn't what mattered. Even though I could only see the back of their heads, I knew exactly who the other couple were, and I knew, deep down, that it was true before I even got into the room. The couple that were not facing me were nine other than my own adoptive parents. _

_Naturally, I panicked. There was no way that people would like me anymore after knowing who raised me, especially in Gryffindor. I couldn't keep secrets like this too well at all, and being a Gryffindor meant that it was all the worse. I mean, it wouldn't be so bad for Chris. If anything, it would only improve her social status amongst the other Slytherins. I was going to be left friendless, and alone. No-one would like me, not Harry, not my sisters, not Hermione, not Ron, not Luna, not even Neville. Especially not Neville really, Death Eaters did destroy his parents..._

_But that wasn't what had me most scared. I didn't know much about how adoption worked in the muggle world, but they didn't know what, yet alone who, were death eaters. They could take me beck at any time, and hand me right over to Voldemort. They knew about me, I was in danger! Heck, even if they didn't I still was. I was valuable to the good side, the Order... Harry... I could be used as leverage... I... I could barely think about it. _

_There was one more person in the room, a girl. She only looked to be a year or two older than me. It suddenly occurred to me that she must have been the one they were talking about earlier, and what they were doing to her was bad. She was their slave. Covered in bruises and some scars, she was hastily scrubbing the floor using a bucket of soapy water and a brush. She had hair that looked brown, although it was hard to tell because she was so caked in dirt. Her skin was an unnaturally pale colour, and she seemed a bit too thin. I shouldn't have been surprised though, after all, Death Eaters were sick and twisted._

_The woman death eater, whose name still escaped me pointed at the poor girl at the floor, and I listened as best as I could, but it was safe to say that I was hysterical._

"_She never speaks you know, well, not to us at least. I often hear her muttering to herself, in French though. She clearly understands us, but yet she never speaks unless it's in French. It's for the bust, though, I suppose. At least we don't have to put up with her whining all the time. Oh, I forgot to ask, would you like for her to make you some food. She's not the best cook, but we'll soon set that right. We do still have our House Elf, though. The work wasn't getting done quick enough with just her around, and we were bored. They beat themselves up more often than not. Lucius' was a classic one for that, until that idiot Potter boy set him free... And, like I said earlier, even with their magic, House Elves just aren't tall enough." _

_My ex-parents both nodded. _

"_So it shall be then. Girl!" She shouted._

_The girl looked up, her striking violet eyes, the only real part of her showing much life, looking up at them._

"_Go to the kitchens. Get the elf and prepare us all a feast." _

_The girl nodded, stood up, and walked from the room, quietly muttering something to herself in French. _

_My ex-mother scoffed, "Not at all to my liking... Do you mind me cursing her to ensure she gets the message?" _

_The other woman's eyes darkened, "Feel free."_

_My ex-mother, whatever her name was, I couldn't be sure if they went by aliases in the muggle world, quickly walked to the doorway, and cast the cruciatus curse out on the poor girl, who I felt so sorry for. Obviously, I had no clue who or where she was, and there was nothing that I was able to do to help her. It was horrible hearing her screams. Of course, I had heard such screams before, but not by someone so close to my own age at that time. _

_If I hadn't already have been crying, I would have started then._

* * *

**Lovely nightmare there, right? **

**We just met a few characters important in the later story. And whilst I love the character of the girl with the violet eyes, it's very unlikely that we'll see her again till Horcrux year. But she will be mentioned. Kinda hard for her not to be.**

**Oh, and just for the record, I really disapprove of what the death eaters were saying about the girl whose name you will find out later. I mean, her name's on the poll, but you won't find out which one she is for a while. either in the next story or the story after. Yeah, she knows exactly what their saying and stuff, but she just doesn't see the point of retaliating. I mean, if Death Eaters kidnapped you from Beauxbatons (or any school, really) you wouldn't be to happy or rebellious, would you? She's just being realistic and knows that she won't escape. I'm pretty sure those Death Eaters know her name because they obviously know her blood status (why kidnap a pure blood?) yeah, she's half blood. I'll need to double check, but I'm pretty sure one parent was a pure blood and the other was a muggle or a Muggle Born. **

**We also met one of Rory's kids and one of her sister's kids.**

**Yeah... I'm running out of names. And I'm also struggling matching people up. Well, that teaches me to curse a family with twins...**

**Anyway...**

**Bye for now.**

**Please, please review. I know I'm a crap writer and all, but one review isn't a lot to ask for, right?**

**Oh, and does anyone know how to get the disgusting smell of sulphur off of my hands?**

**Jess - Scan the french sheet for me!**

**Kaisha :( **


	17. Molly!

**I don't own Harry Potter, or anything from that universe, the AMAZING Joanne Rowling does. I cannot claim ownership of any of it :'( Yeah, sorry for the late update. School was... uggh.**

* * *

I awoke from a night of sleep that could easily have been described as uneasy. It was barely 6am. No-one was awake, at least not in my dorm.

But it was pointless trying to sleep again, and I just needed to... forget about _them_.

So, as quietly as I could, I pulled on my school uniform, it was pointless wearing something else really, and walked out of the dorm, saying a silent goodbye to my sleeping Kitty.

There was no-one in the common room either, and for a moment, I considered just sitting by the fire, reflecting, but then I realised that I needed to keep everything _away_ from my mind, I needed some company, and I fancied a nice hot drink, so I headed down the bare staircase to the kitchens. I'd probably find a nice House Elf to chat to anyway.

The kitchens were as big as ever, not that I was surprised or anything. All of the house elves were busy preparing food for breakfast, as always. To be honest, these were the lucky ones. They had to work from before dawn to dusk, but they were compensated, and they weren't abused. Unless they abused themselves, which any did. Well, at least Dobby did. I hadn't actually met him _yet_. But I knew I would. Harry told me what he knew about him, and I had seen enough myself. I just felt so guilty about not being able to save him. Well... there was a one in a million chance that I could, but I doubted that I would be able to. You see, the potion which I would soon need to start brewing, seeing as it took 1 cauldron 1 year to brew 1 dose, didn't work on elves, and although I had phoenix tears, I doubted that the Death Eaters would let me keep them in Malfoy Manor. So, I would have to make sure that Dobby lived his life to the full, I didn't want him to miss out on anything. At all.

And who was busy working away, wearing the traditional house elf... cloth thing, and a pair of trainers? It was only Dobby.

So, naturally, he was the house elf I went up to.

"Hello, Dobby." I said.

Dobby turned around, "What can Dobby do for the mistress?"

"Oh, well I kind of want a hot chocolate but that doesn't really matter right now... I just want to talk. And Dobby, I'm no-one's 'mistress'. My name's Rory." I said. I would have smiled if I was in the mood not to cry. In fact, I was lucky that I wasn't still crying, but it was still perfectly clear that I had been crying.

"Then what does mistress Rory wish to talk about?"

"I believe you know my brother, Harry. He's your friend, right? The one who freed you."

"Dobby does not wish to offend, ma'am, but Dobby would like to point out that Harry Potter has no sister."

"He does. 1/3 sisters. 5 of them. It's complicated, but I'm basically Lily Evans' daughter. But she never actually met me, or maybe she did... but she never knew..."

"Dobby understands now, ma'am, but what does mistress Rory wish to talk about?"

I sighed, "I don't really know, Dobby. Oh, and by the way, those trainers look good on you. Are you sure you want to keep wearing that cloth? Anyway, I'm just feeling a little down. I doubt that anything's gonna make me feel better, but I spotted you, and I know you... and I just want to... oh, you know what? I... I just can't do this, I'm sorry..."

And I ran out of the kitchen, just like that, an emotional wreck. Why would anyone want to know someone raised by murderous Death Eaters? Why would anyone even care about what happened to me? All of my friends, Luna and my sisters excluded, were Gryffindors, and them continuing to like me was about as likely as my evil twin suddenly having a change of heart and us returning to be best friends. I was just going to have to face the fact that life was going to be changing for me, and quickly.

It's true, though, I was a total emotional wreck, and to a certain extent, yes, it was justified, but I just couldn't stop crying. So, I went to a place where I felt comfortable. A place where I could just... get lost without actually getting lost somewhere. The Library. Besides, it wasn't like many other places would be open at that time of morning, and I most definitely wasn't going outside alone, what with the dementors being there.

As expected, I was the only one in the library, and seeing as I didn't want to be having a 'lovely' conversation with Moaning Myrtle, it was one of the only placed that I could go cry.

I picked up a random book along the way, and went to a secluded corner of the library, and still crying, I began to read. Thankfully, the librarian had the sense to charm the books so that they wouldn't come to any harm. Otherwise, I would have very little to do.

Almost an hour and a half later, it was 7:30 and breakfast began. It was just going to have to be business as usual, really.

Very few of the students were actually up and at breakfast at the start, but that was okay. That would just give me more time. Unless, of course, Snape came up for a chat. That would be fun. Not. And there would be no escaping him, because I had double potions in the afternoon. Although there was an advantage in having double potions, I just didn't find it all that interesting when my dad was the teacher. And, knowing him, he would have something up his sleeve.

So, imagine how (un)surprised I was when he came and sat opposite me for just a minute, because he wanted to talk to me.

"Look, Aurora... Rory... I hope that you're feeling alright today, and there's something I need to tell you..."

"What, _professor_?"

"There's a piece of group work in today's potions lesson, and I thought that I ought to give you prior warning about who you're working with..."

"Oh, not Malfoy!"

"Yes, and believe me I only put the two of you together because I thought it was for the best."

"But... why? If you'd put Hermione and me together, you would have work that could have rivalled the Half-Blood Prince's."

Snape seemed slightly taken aback, but continued, "Aurora, you need to become accustomed to working with people that you aren't too... fond of, shall we say. This is going to happen to you in later life, whether you like it or not, and perhaps you will find that you have something in common with them."

"Them? Them who...? Oh, and the Half-Blood prince thing, it's safe with me..." I really wanted to ask him to leave, but I just couldn't... he was still my dad, despite once being a death eater, but he was also my teacher, and in Hogwarts, that could be quite scary.

He nodded, and then said, "And that reminds me, I would like to see about getting you extra Potions tuition, because, if you are tutored properly, I firmly believe that you could easily achieve both your OWL and your NEWT in my subject by your 5th or perhaps 6th year."

I shook my head, "No. I wouldn't want to be the stupid little genius freak, even more so than I already am. I want to just be as normal as I can be. Do you think I like what I am? I'm a freak of bloody nature, no-one gets me, and sometimes, I... I..." I couldn't go on, I was about to burst into tears and I couldn't do it in the middle of the Great Hall, so, without another word, I ran straight out of the Hall, up the stairs, and into the closest bathroom.

Thankfully, it was empty, other than me, and Snape surely would not have followed me into it, but I didn't doubt that he would have sent someone after me. I mean, I wasn't stupid, he was going to do that whether I liked it or not, because, although I didn't like to think about it that way, to him, I was still mini-Lily. I could change that, but I never would.

Now, it was all about questioning who was coming after me, obviously a teacher, not a guy, because that would be awkward, weird and kinda gross seeing as I was in the bathroom, but I knew that it would be mere seconds until I found out.

There was a knock on the door to the bathroom.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"It's me." Luna said.

Why would Snape send one of my friends to find me? Not that I was mad at him for that, but it just seemed a little... out of character...

I sighed, "Look, Luna, I'm really not in the mood to talk. I've had a rough night... I... I just need some time, okay..."

"I just don't like this, Rory..."

I paused for a minute. Maybe I was being a little harsh. So, I opened the bathroom door, but there was no Luna.

I didn't want to go to Breakfast again though, so I just walked back up to the tower. I could stay there until DADA, I supposed.

On the way up, I bumped into Hermione. "Rory, are you okay?" She asked, "You look a little pale, and I would hate to be stating the obvious, but breakfast is in the Hall, not upstairs."

"No... But I'll be down in time for Defence Against the Dark Arts. You wouldn't mind getting my mail for me, would you? I just... had a rough night, shall we say, and Dad hasn't made things much better..."

"Oh, Rory... Breakfast can wait, you know, if you need to talk..."

"No, Hermione, you go. Besides, I don't really like it when people see me cry... and I feel that I'm barely holding on as it is..."

"Look, you don't have to be ashamed to cry in front of me, and you know that you can tell me anything, right? I'm not going to be leaving you alone until I _know_ that you're okay. Unless, of course, you want me to go and speak to one of the teachers..."

I sighed, "Fine. We can talk back in the dorm."

We both walked to the top of the tower, and thankfully, I didn't pass any friends on the way up, so I didn't have to talk to anyone.

Strangely, the dorm was empty too. At least Hermione and I could sort of have some privacy whilst we talked.

"What happened that's made you be like this, Rory?"

"I... Hermione, if I tell you these things, you know you can't ever tell anyone. I mean, I would love to tell you things, I would love to tell you everything, but I can't. It's just the way it is. But... the things I can tell you, I will. Just promise me, okay? And promise me that you won't hate me..."

Hermione nodded, "I promise I won't. Besides, you're one of my best friends. We're supposed to keep each other's secrets, and I hate when you're not happy. It just makes us all the more miserable ourselves. And Rory, I would never hate you."

"Okay then, Hermione... Well, last night, I had two of those visions of mine. Ones that I'm sure that I've never seen before. The first was quite sweet actually, It was basically just me, my daughter and my niece having a little moment on the sofa. The second..."

"What about it?"

"There were 4 death eaters in this place. I wasn't in the room with them or anything at the beginning, but then I had this... horrible feeling, and I went in there. It turns out, I knew two of them..."

"What do you mean?"

"They were my adoptive parents, 'Mione..."

She gave me a hug, "Is that why you thought I would hate you? Rory, it's not your fault. I mean, it's bad, but it's their fault."

"It gets worse..." I paused, taking in a breath, "The other death eaters, the ones that they were visiting, they had this girl. She was... she was their slave, Hermione. And she could have only been a few years older than us. I couldn't imagine that happening to me... and now no-one's going to like me because the only parents I've ever really known turned out to be death eaters. Things are going to change and I'll be a total outcast here."

I just couldn't hold my tears in anymore, and I was crying into her shoulder.

"What you just told me, it's shocking, of course it is, but I wouldn't hate you for it. No-one would. It's not like it's your fault."

"I know, but other people will think that I knew all along, and..."

"Rory, you're being stupid, you'll be fine." She said, giving me a hug.

"No, 'Mione, I won't be."

"And Rory, I know you made me promise not to tell, but this is something Dumbledore should know about. He'll help you, and Mr and Mrs Weasley can support you and they'll all help you feel so much better. I mean, I won't tell Dumbledore if you don't want me to, but if you want, we can go together?" She asked.

I thought about it for a minute, and I nodded. I just hoped that he would understand.

I dried my eyes a little, and Hermione and I went down to the Hall together. We figured that Dumbledore could have been eating, and if not, we hoped that McGonagall would understand.

Thankfully, he was down there, at his usual seat, right at the middle of the teachers table, facing out onto the students.

We walked up to him, completely ignoring Snape's presence.

"Um, Professor Dumbledore, Rory and I need to talk to you in private..." Hermione said.

"Breakfast can wait." Dumbledore said, getting up. He then walked around the table and led us to his office's entrance.

After going up to his office in the statue, he led us to the seated part of his office.

"Now, girls. What seems to be the problem?" He asked, sitting opposite to the two of us.

Together, we then explained everything about my vision to him, and we told him about how I was feeling too.

When we were done, he said, "Now, Aurora, why would you ever think that your own friends, own family, no less, would hate you, simply because of the circumstances of your upbringing?"

"I... I..." I couldn't give him an answer. I just felt so awful about it.

"Dumbledore, I think she's just worrying too much about nothing. I mean, I couldn't imagine how I'd react in her circumstances, and with everything she sees..."

Bumblebee nodded, "Yes, I can see your point there. Now, if you'll excuse me, and wait here a moment I think I know exactly what she might need," he said, swiftly exiting his office.

"Do you have any idea what he's getting?"

I shook my head.

"You can be the worst psychic ever sometimes, you know?"

I agreed, and under different circumstances, I would probably have smiled.

A few minutes later, the door opened, and I saw just the face that I wanted to see.

"Molly!" I said.

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**Yeah, so please review this time?**


	18. Adoption

**I don't own Harry Potter, or anything from that universe, the AMAZING Joanne Rowling does. I cannot claim ownership of any of it :'(**

**Oh, and a late happy new year :)**

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Molly came and sat down beside me.

"Now what's this Dumbledore tells me about you thinking everyone will hate you?" She asked.

"They're Death Eaters, Molly. Those people who adopted me. I'll never be able to keep it a secret, and oh, God... everyone's going to hate me for it... I... I don't know what to do, please..."

She sighed, "Now, Rory, honey, why would you think that? You're a wonderful little girl with a wonderful personality. You can't control who brought you up."

"I know that, but people, they talk. And legally... they could get me back at any time, if they want, because they know about... what I do, and if Vol... if _he _comes back... I..."

"You don't need to worry about that, Rory, it's not going to happen."

"But it might." I argued, knowing that no matter what I said, it was going to happen.

"You don't need to worry about it, dear. You're safe here, it's Hogwarts. And you've got wonderful friends here who would support you through anything, isn't that right, Hermione?"

"Of course it is." Hermione said. I hadn't even realised that she was still there, which was kind of bad...

"But I'm just so worried about what might happen, Molly..."

"You don't need to be... I suppose I should have told you sooner, but in case anything like this ever happened, Arthur and I, well, we've got a plan."

"A plan? What plan?"

"Well, let's just say that you've got a guardian angel out there whose looking out for you. We received a mysterious letter saying that something like this might happen. But, you already felt like family, you see. We would probably have done this anyway, but..." She sighed, "We're ready to adopt you, Rory. Only of course, if that's what you want..."

"Adopt... me? But what about... _them_? They're still technically my adoptive parents. And what about Chris?"

"Don't worry, we can take care of that. And your sister... yes, it's a little odd, really, she somehow found out about our plans. I don't quite know how, but anyway, she sent us an owl which basically said 'Sorry, but no, please don't adopt me'. Can't imagine why, though."

"She's just weird like that..."

"But anyway, honey, what's your answer?"

"Oh, my answer... of course, it would have to be a yes. I... I love being a part of your family, Molly. And hey, I definitely look the part."

"Good," She gave me a good, long hug. "Then it's settled. You don't need to worry, dear, it's all going to be alright in the end."

I smiled, then checked the time. I still needed to collect my things for the day, and actually try to have some sort of breakfast, and I didn't want to be late.

"I'm sorry, but we really have to be going now. I don't think I can thank you enough..."

"Don't even think about it dear. You were already a part of the family."

Then, Hermione and I went down to breakfast. At least we still had time for something small.

Harry and Ron were sat at the usual places, and Ron was stuffing his face, as per usual. We went and sat next to them, and Ron couldn't help but notice the huge grin on my face.

"What are you so happy about?" he asked.

"Well, it's... I had a horrible dream last night, and I can't really talk about the details, and I was really, really upset by it.

"Then why are you smiling?" He asked, looking as confused as ever.

"Because I got some great news."

"And that news would be?"

"My family is growing. Well, sort of. I got a visit from just the person I wanted to see and it'll be okay because I'm getting adopted."

"Really?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, actually."

"Do we know them?" Ron asked.

"I would hope so..." Hermione said.

"I'll give you a hint, Ron. I'm getting a new set of parents, plus 7 siblings." Okay, maybe that was a little more than a hint...

"Wait, my family?" Ron asked.

I nodded.

"Bloody hell... this is getting weird. Now you're Harry's sister, and you're about to be mine too. Can I just ask when you're going to be Hermione's sister?"

"Um, I don't think that's going to happen. I'll already have a wonderful set of adoptive parents. I don't need two."

"But, it's weird..."

"Okay, shut up now Ron. Go spread it around my now very large family if you want something to do. That might just take you till the weekend." I laughed.

"Um, no... I think I've just found a bit of interesting... floor."

I nodded, and then I grabbed some tofu. It was all I really wanted for breakfast, and it was quickly becoming my favourite food. At least it was available at every meal.

After I'd eaten my breakfast, I ran upstairs to get mine and Hermione's books. The boys could get their own. Besides, we had Arithmancy and Muggle Studies, and they both had the most awesome lesson known as... nothing!

They didn't have lessons until after break, so we were sending them off packing to the library. Not that we thought that they would stay there, of course, but it was a good place for them to be either way.

When it was nearly time for us to go to Muggle Studies, which was the one we were going to first, we practically ordered the two to the Library. Of course, they asked why.

Hermione replied, "Well, seeing as we're doing something useful, and we actually have lessons, we think that you should be two. The least you could be doing is studying, so we're making sure you get to the Library and have some good books to look at before we have to be in our lessons."

They both grumbled, but they knew that they wouldn't have a choice in the matter until we were gone, so they walked ahead of us to the library. When we got there, Hermione and I split up. I stayed with the boys, to make sure that they didn't run away, and Hermione found them some books on the subjects that we knew they were rather rubbish on.

They just sat there, it was rather funny actually, and they were giving these looks to each other, as if to say, 'What are we going to do now? Those geeks just don't let us have our fun'.

When Hermione got back, we stood there for a minute or two, making sure they at least started to look at the books, after, of course, we told them that we would collect them from there at break, just o make it a little more fun, before we absolutely had to go to Muggle Studies.

The lesson was alright actually, not too many people had opted to take it, so it was kind of nice to not be in a crowded room for once. Professor Burbage was an alright teacher, not too strict or anything, but it was basically a lesson teaching to the people who knew the least, so she basically explained what muggles were after telling us who she was and talking a little about the course. At least she was truthful.

Arithmancy was far more interesting. We learnt that there was this theory that numbers could predict the future and there was a sort of science behind it too. It was one of the most academic subjects we had at Hogwarts, but also probably the most interesting. Needless to say, I was glad to have chosen the subject.

When we got to the library at the beginning of break, we were surprised to find them there, exactly where we had left them.

"You're still here?" I asked, quite surprised.

"Well, yeah... I didn't want you telling on me to mum..." Ron said.

I probably wouldn't have, but he had a good point, so I just decided to go with it, and at least I had some leverage over him now. Before I was just his geeky friend who happened to live with him, but now he had no choice but to listen to me.

Otherwise, I could so easily go squealing to my new mum.

We quickly put the books away, and then, as the friends we were, we went off to break together.

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**So, yeah.I was up till half past 2 this morning doing this. I've just been so busy with homework. Isn't it stupid setting homework over Christmas? Yeah, well my school did. Year 11 sucks right now :/ So please, just review for me, it doesn't matter how short, I'll reply.**

**Kaisha.**


	19. Hogsmeade

**I don't own Harry Potter, or anything from that universe, the AMAZING Joanne Rowling does. I cannot claim ownership of any of it :'(

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The following weekend was the first trip to Hogsmeade. It was a good job too – I needed to buy 4 different birthday presents. Well, three could wait for a bit, but I thought that I might as well.

Molly and Arthur were still sorting out work to do with my adoption, but I knew that it wasn't going to take too much longer, but I still couldn't wait for it all to be official.

We were all up bright and early, ready for the trip. We were all so excited, none of us had ever really been to Hogsmeade before. Well, not properly anyway, only when we were getting on or off of the train. This time, we could go to see the sights, the shops, the shrieking shack... Hardly anyone could wait.

Lessons had been going okay, nothing too bad, but nothing that great either. Hagrid's lessons had turned sour after such a great first lesson, though I had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with the whole Buckbeak thing, but I wasn't sure...

Kitty was playing with Crookshanks when we left them – at least they both had some company when no-one was around to look after them.

Everyone in the third year was gathered in the main courtyard. We were all handing in our permission slips to Filch and some other various staff members. Harry was there too – hoping that McGonagall would agree to sign his slip. Needless to say, she refused. She told him that he had to have a parent or a guardian sign it. Unfortunately for Harry, he only had one 'guardian' – Sirius. You couldn't really count Petunia or Vernon as guardians, because honestly, Harry was more of _their_ guardian, if anything. He didn't say anything, though, he just looked on as we were led to the carriages with the thestrals. If I was in his shoes though, I probably would have.

The older kids had already gone off to Hogsmeade. It's not like they had slips to hand in. Plus, they already knew the procedure, so it was a whole lot faster for them.

Neville, Ron, Hermione and I were on one of the carriages, thankfully with one of the nicer thestrals. When we were settled, and sent on the way to the Wizarding Village, we began to talk a little.

"So, Hermione, what do you think you and Ron are going to be doing? Neville and me are going to go shopping."

"I'm taking Ron around the shops too. It's a shame that you aren't going to come with us, though."

"I need to buy your birthday present for tomorrow, Hermione. It would kind of ruin it for you if you were there when I brought... whatever I'm going to get you... and I'm getting stuff for the triplets while I'm here too. Might as well."

"Yeah, but Rory, you know you shouldn't be leaving this till the last minute."

I leaned in, "Just think, I won't be getting or giving you your present as late as someone on this carriage... Oh, and maybe you should take him to Zonko's he might like that." I whispered.

She giggled, "Yes, I suppose so."

Unfortunately, the carriage ride wasn't very long in the end, or at least it seemed that way to me. So, we soon split up into our pairs and headed off in separate directions. Ron and Hermione walked off into Honeydukes, but not before we all agreed to meet up on the way back home to Hogwarts, and Neville and I went looking for presents for Hermione – he had neglected to buy one in the summer holidays as well. Not that it really crossed any of our minds during the summer holidays, of course, it was a long while away back then, and we knew that we would likely have a trip to Hogsmeade in the first few weeks of term.

We went to a jewellery shop. The magical ones weren't much different to the muggle ones, except the jewellery was levitated, rather than flat or on a fake head, hand, or neck.

There wasn't anything that I though Hermione would like, but I did find a pretty onyx necklace which I thought Buffy would like, so I brought that for her, but there was nothing else I saw, and Neville seemed a little lost, so we moved on to the next store.

The next place we saw was a clothes shop, but we didn't go in, neither of us liked the look of it, so we went just opposite, into a book store – perfect for both Lexi and Hermione. Not Bella, though, I had decided to go to Honeydukes for her present. Neville thought that the book shop was a good place to go for Hermione's present too, but he also thought that I would know best what she would like, so I was going to help him choose her present too.

In the end, Neville and I got her some story books, she had enough non-fiction for the time being, and it was a good thing to see the differences between fiction written by wizards and fiction written by muggles. Honestly, I'd never read any fiction written by anyone other than a muggle before, to my knowledge at least, so I brought one or two for myself as well.

For Lexi, I brought a book of spells, the sort for fun I knew that textbooks wouldn't have made the best present. I would probably have done the same for Hermione but I knew for a fact that she already had the book, so I obviously didn't.

After we left the bookshop, which was nowhere near the size of Flourish and Blotts, we stopped just outside of the door.

"So, I need to go to Honeydukes next, I need a present for Bella. But after that, we can go wherever you want... Zonko's... the Shrieking Shack... a walk to nowhere in particular."

"Sounds good..."

"So... where do you want to go, then?"

"Um... maybe the Shrieking Shack?"

"Sounds good to me." I smiled.

We then took a walk back to Honeydukes. It was the closest to the carriages, so we really should have gone there first. But I didn't think about it then.

I quickly chose a huge lollipop, some fudge, and a chocolate wand for my sister. She was going to have a very sweet birthday on Bonfire Night. Shame there wasn't a fireworks display at school.

After we left Honeydukes, we took a slow walk down to the Shrieking Shack, it was the only other place we were going, so we had no reason to watch.

The Shrieking Shack wasn't very big, or at least it didn't seem that way from the place where Neville and I were stood. I kind of wanted to get closer to the Shack, but Neville didn't. It was fair enough, though, he thought that the place was haunted, as did most. Honestly, though, it was a myth – a cover for Remus using the place to transform on full moons. It was a good thing that there weren't any windows or doors that worked in Hogsmeade itself, otherwise who knows what would have happened to Remus as a kid?

"Sure you don't want to go any closer? It's not really haunted, trust me."

"I'm fine here... besides, all the bad things happen to me, so I don't want to risk it... the broom in first year, the pixies last year, and the book in Care of Magical Creatures just last week..."

"Yeah, well, if you're sure, then I won't go any closer either... don't you think this place will look simply magical in the winter, covered in a blanket of snow..." I said, practically day dreaming.

"It's a shame you missed all of the snow last year – there was tonnes of it when you were... Hogwarts was... wow..."

"I was in a coma, Neville. It's not like... a forbidden thing that we can never talk about. It's been a fact of life for me..."

"Oh, yeah..."

There was an awkward silence, and a few minutes later, I spoke again, "I think we'll need to be going now if we want to meet up with Hermione and Ron... it's nearly time..."

He nodded, "Okay." And we walked back to the carriages, and, again shared a thestrals to School with our friends.

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**Hi, remember me? Yeah, I would never abandon this story, just I'm going to be very busy with school for a bit, (probably the next 6ish years if I go to Uni after I've done my GCSEs this year, then I so Sixth Form) I have been writing - but stuff for me, to keep me sane, and I don't think many would like it (and if you're interested what it is, it's a Criminal Minds one, but I would never post it - it's based on a rather disturbing dream). I've also got the next few chapters worked out. Imma be skipping a bit through time, just by a few days and weeks though - before it was literally one day, then the next. **

**So I'm done with Aladdin- it went really well! Drama's defo one of my faves, but I'm getting all this homework right now, so I never have a lot of time.**

**Anyway Imma get back to watching Rocky Horror now - Rocky was just 'born' in it.**

**Kaisha :)**


	20. Hermione's birthday

**I don't own Harry Potter, or anything from that universe, the AMAZING Joanne Rowling does. I cannot claim ownership of any of it :'(

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The next day was Hermione's birthday. She was glad that we didn't have school that day, as were we all, especially seeing as we could have had Snape or the dreaded Professor Binns.

Ginny Bella and I were all up really early that morning, ready to wake Hermione up bright and early and give her our presents down in the Common Room. Ginny had gotten her some stuff for Crookshanks, and Bella had gotten her some sweets. Sweets were always a good thing to fall back on if you didn't know what else to get someone.

At 7 am sharp, we all woke her up by singing Happy Birthday to her. We didn't have a cake, but she would have one later – good things happen when you talk to the House Elves. Besides – a birthday would hardly be a birthday without a cake. But at least she had us, her friends, and her presents from us and her parents.

When she'd woken up properly, we took her down to the common room, and we were all still in our pyjamas of course. Harry, Ron, and Neville were down there too – with her presents piled on one of the tables there.

When we could see them, the boys all shouted, "Happy Birthday Hermione!" and she was happy about it, we were all up with all of the presents we had for her, which didn't include one from Ron, he, oh so conveniently forgot, and we were ready to make it the best – and only thirteenth birthday she would ever have.

We all sat down around the table, and watched her open all of her gifts, the ones from us, and the ones from Mr and Mrs Granger. They had arrived the previous day, and we swiftly hid them from her so she didn't open them before her birthday. We did want to be extra sure, of course.

After all of her presents had been opened, we went down to breakfast – but not in our pyjamas, of course. We did get dressed before we left Gryffindor tower. On the way to breakfast, we heard the odd, 'Happy Birthday, Hermione!', from the people who knew it was the day.

Us Gryffindors sat together, as normal, and we all enjoyed a nice breakfast, lovingly made for us by the house elves. Part way through breakfast, Luna, Buffy and Lexi came up to us, separately though, and wished Hermione a happy birthday. Luna even gave her a necklace, one which she made herself. She claimed that it would help to keep something or other away – I don't remember what it was, oddly enough though it wasn't nargles, and it was really pretty.

"Thanks, Luna, that's really nice of you." Hermione said.

"Well, it's easy. I love making things, especially when they help keep me safe." Luna said, before excusing herself back to her table.

"So... what are we going to get done today?" Hermione asked.

We smiled – we had it all planned out already...

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**Okay, I know it's been a while and it's short, but I'm crap at birthday chapters. The next one skips over a month - kind of necessary really. **

**Anyway, bye, I'm watching Skins and doing homework - I'm back at school tomorrow :(**

**Kaisha **


	21. A boggart in the classroom

**Okay, so I woke up this morning, and I looked in the mirror. Guess what? I'm not J.K Rowling! :O Yeah, so I guess I don't own Harry Potter...**

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A few weeks later, when it was nearly Halloween, we had a very... different Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson with Lupin. We entered his classroom to see a wardrobe smack bang in the middle of the floor.

"Okay then, third years, I'd like you to out your books down on your desks, then come gather round this wardrobe. It's a practical lesson today."

And so we did. It was a bit different to our normal lessons with him because over the past few weeks, we had done mostly book work, so it was a nice change. Besides, I did like practical work. Care of Magical Creatures, on the other hand, had immediately turned sour after the first day. I suspected that it could have something to do with the Buckbeak incident, but I would obviously never know now.

When we were all gathered in front of the wardrobe, Lupin spoke again, "Today, class, we will be learning about the creature currently trapped inside this wardrobe.," the wardrobe rattled, "Intriguing, yes?" The wardrobe shook from side to side, "Is there anyone who would care to venture a guess as to what it is inside?" It rattled again.

"That's a boggart, that is." Seamus said.

"Very good, Mr Finnigan. Can anyone tell us what a Boggart looks like?"

"No-one knows," Hermione said. She'd just appeared in the classroom. I supposed that she'd been busy with things and lost track of time, "Boggarts are shape shifters, and they take the shape of whatever a particular person fears the most that's what makes it so –" Lupin cut her off.

"Terrifying, yes." He said, "Luckily, a very simple charm exists to repel a Boggart. Let's practise it now, shall we? Without wands, please..." He paused, and waited for us all to be ready, "Riddikulus!"

We all repeated, "Riddikulus!"

"Good. So much for the easy part. The incantation, you see, is not enough. What really finishes of a boggart is laughter. You need to force it to assume a shape that you find truly amusing." He looked around the class, searching for someone, "Ah, Neville, would you care to join me?" He asked, although it was more of an instruction.

Neville just stayed right where he was – behind me.

"Come on," Lupin said, "There's no need to be shy."

Neville slowly edged to the front of the semi-circle, ending up next to Lupin.

"So Neville, what is it that frightens you most of all?" Lupin asked.

Well, if it had been me that was asked, I would have replied with one word, _Voldemort_, but Neville replied with a simple mumble, that not even Lupin could hear.

"Sorry, could you repeat that?" Lupin asked.

"Professor Snape..." He said, louder this time, and we could all hear him.

"Professor Snape... Well, Neville, he does frighten us all." He then repositioned Neville so that he was facing the wardrobe, but was still a fair few feet away from it, "I hear that you live with your grandmother?"

"I don't want it turning into her either..." Neville said.

"No, Neville it isn't going to. All I need you to do is picture her clothes – just her clothes, very clearly in your mind."

"She carries a red handbag, and..." Lupin interrupted him.

"We don't need to hear, as long as you see it, we'll see it." He explained, "Now what I want you to do, is," I didn't hear the rest, it was whispered into Neville's ear, but Neville nodded, despite looking rather mortified.

Lupin stepped to the side, took out his own wand, and said, "Okay now, wand at the ready,"

Neville followed suit, and when Lupin saw that Neville had his wand at his side, he counted, "One, Two, Three," then waved his wand, which opened the door to the wardrobe, and out stepped my father. A bit of a weird thing to see to say the least.

Neville froze for a second, in fear. I couldn't blame him. If I were him, I would have done exactly the same thing.

When 'Snape' started telling Neville how useless he was, which he wasn't at all, by the way, Lupin spoke again, "Think, Neville, think!"

Neville, taking the Professor's advice then pointed his wand at the boggart, and raised his voice just enough so that we could hear him say, "Riddikulus!"

All of a sudden my father was dressed in Neville's Grandmother's hideous clothing, the red handbag, the hat that seemed to have a bird just... plonked on it, and that dress...

Naturally, all of the class started laughing.

Lupin then took Neville aside, patted him on the back and said, "Wonderful, Neville, wonderful! Incredible, really. Now, to the back, Neville, and everybody form a line!"

Sort of slowly, everyone squashed themselves into a line. I was kind of near the front, just in front of Harry. Of course, Malfoy and his... goons for lack of a better word were insisting to go at the back, pushing everyone forward to get there, which wasn't very nice.

"Now, I want everyone to picture the thing they fear the very most, and turn it into something funny."

When he was sure that the whole class understood, though strangely the boggart hadn't moved since Neville had casted the spell, he told Ron, who was at the front of the queue, that he was next.

Nervously, Ron took a step closer to the boggart, which then turned into an Acromantula. That was Ron's greatest fear, spiders.

Nervously, Ron picked up his wand, and slightly stuttering, he casted the spell, and the giant, menacing spider lost its legs. Needless to say, that spider-boggart wasn't going to be doing any harm to him any time soon.

He seemed a little relieved, and he walked to the back of the room, joining Neville. After all, neither of them had any reason to be in the line any more.

Next to face the boggart were the Patil twins.

Parvati's boggart was a mummy, and when she cast Riddikulus, it was a bit more comedic; the mummy tripped over its bandages, and Padma's boggart was a cobra which became a Jack in the Box. Then they joined the two boys at the back of the room.

Despite there still being a few people in-between me and the boggart, I was nervous about what would happen when it came to me, I mean, Voldemort? He was scary, and not just spider scary, and those _were_ scary.

And then it was Dean, and his boggart was a creepy undead hand. I wasn't a fan of it myself, so I could see why Dean might think that one of those was the worst things in the world... It then got trapped in a mouse trap. Well, at least it wasn't creeping towards us anymore.

After that, it was Seamus' turn, and his boggart was the worst so far, a banshee. I would have hated meeting one of those in real life, one of their screams could easily have killed me, or anyone for that matter. Well, at least Seamus' lost its voice.

The last person in-between me and the boggart was Hermione. When she stood in front of the boggart, it turned into Professor McGonagall, holding Hermione's (yet to even be taken) OWL results. They were all horrendous failures. So, Hermione was scared of failure. Well, it did kind of make sense... But when she cast Riddikulus, oddly enough, the boggart changed to holding an award. No-one laughed, but at least it worked for her.

When it was my turn, I just stayed in the line.

"Rory?" Lupin asked, wondering why I wasn't going on towards the boggart.

"Um... can I refuse to do this... at least right now, anyway. I just don't think my classmates would appreciate what my boggart is going to be..."

"Well," Lupin said, "If you're sure, but you are missing out."

"I am, really. Thank you anyway." I said, before joining my friends at the back. I wasn't sure how Ron ended up at the front of the line, whilst Hermione, Harry and I weren't, but I supposed that it didn't really matter.

So, with me at the back, it was Harry's turn.

He stepped up towards the boggart, still in McGonagall's form, looking rather confident and the boggart turned into a dementor.

The dementor quickly moved towards him, looking rather menacing, and Lupin quickly ran in-between the boggart and my brother, turning the boggart into the full moon. Of course, I knew why that was, but no-one else did. He seemed to look at it for a moment before casting Riddikulus. It turned into a balloon, which flew into the wardrobe, which Lupin then locked again.

"Right," Lupin said, "Sorry about that. I think that's enough for today, so collect your books from the back, that's the end of the lesson."

It was a little odd, but we all got our books, and had an early break from lessons. It was a good thing in my opinion.

Me, Ron, Harry, Neville and Hermione walked out together.

"Did you see Lupin's boggart?" Ron asked, "It was a moon, wasn't it? Why was it a moon?"

"I don't know, Ron." I lied, "But that was fun, right? It's a shame that it didn't go on for longer..."

"Rory, you didn't even try, how would you know?" Ron asked.

"Well, I _imagine_ that it was fun. I mean, I would have scared the whole class with my boggart."

"At least we have a real teacher this year. We might just get somewhere with him..." Hermione said.

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**Sorry that this so late. Life's just got a bit hectic, and I finally got a chance to write again. I would have had time before today to write, but I've been a bit preoccupied at the moment - I got an incredibly cute, fluffy and soft baby bunny rabbit :) I called her Bambi, and I've had her for just over a week. I'm so happy, I'm literally happier than I've ever been in my life :)**

**By the way, this has been ready since the 27th of March, but FF hasn't let me put it up as a chapter :(**

**I'll try to update more often :) **

**Kaisha :)**


	22. Walking through the woods

**Okay, so I woke up this morning, and I looked in the mirror. Guess what? I'm not J.K Rowling! :O Yeah, so I guess I don't own Harry Potter...**

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Not long after, it was the day before Halloween, a Saturday.

I had seen Sirius just a few days earlier, for some odd reason, he wanted to get into Hogwarts and he needed to know Gryffindor's password. I told him that no good would come of it, but I had the feeling that no good would come from me not telling him, so I told him the password anyway.

Those Dementors _were _doing an excellent job of keeping Sirius away, though, weren't they? I had to congratulate them on their efforts. The only thing was, I couldn't – and wouldn't, get close enough to them for that to happen.

That morning, I went for a walk with Luna again. That girl was a lot smarter than people gave her credit for. Although, I could kind of see why she was a victim of discrimination, what with the way she looked, the way she acted, and her beliefs. But she was such an interesting person; it was a shame that people didn't give her an opportunity for her to show them how awesome she was.

I then had breakfast with Harry, Ron and Hermione. I wasn't planning on joining them in Hogsmeade, and they already knew that. I just didn't think it was fair that Harry had to spend the whole day on his own, and although they agreed, they were sad that I wasn't going with them.

After breakfast, I went for a walk with Harry. Having to see everyone else head off to the little village would have only made him more disappointed. Besides, we weren't going to be getting many more sort of warm and snowless days until a while after Christmas, so even though the snow was my favourite weather, I still thought that it was going to be best to make the most of the sun while we had it. Besides, it was an odd thing, hating the sun. For all I knew, it could be Harry's favourite weather.

"Are you looking forward to the Halloween Dinner tomorrow?" I asked. It really had been a shame that we had missed it the previous year, but Nearly Headless Nick _was_ having an important deathday party, so we did have a bit of an excuse. But we weren't going to make that sort of mistake again, even if it was for Nick.

"Yeah, I am. The food there was really interesting when I was in first year, and apparently it always is. It's funny how the food's always better on these 'special' days."

"I think it's a shame that they don't celebrate bonfire night here though. I always loved looking out of the windows at the fireworks when I was little. I never got to go to a real display, though. I'm sure the ones who've never even heard of it before would love it."

"Well, at least we're celebrating anyway..."

"I suppose..."

And then it was quiet for a minute. I was always good at coming up with awkward conversational topics.

But then, we spotted Remus, out walking in the woods.

"Hey!" I shouted, "Professor!"

It got his attention, and he walked over to the both of us.

"Well well well, if it isn't you two. What are you doing walking in the woods?" He asked.

"We're just having a walk professor." Harry replied, "Are you doing the same thing?"

"Why yes, Harry, I find that it's good for the lungs. So, how did you enjoy our little boggart demonstration the other day?"

"I loved it," Harry said, "We've never really done anything like it before. I wish we could do more things like that."

"Well, I'll take that onboard. Glad you enjoyed it. I think you need to keep things interesting, otherwise what are you going to learn?"

"Yeah, shame I couldn't have a go. I mean, I could have, but I don't think that seeing old Mouldy in the flesh would have been good for anyone."

"Old Mouldy?" Harry asked. I had forgotten that no-one actually knew about the Voldy's gone Mouldy thing that peeves made up, it was easy to get confused, of course.

"Oh, of course. Everyone has different names for him, I either call him that or Voldemort. You'll understand some time in the future why I call him that."

"Oh," Harry said, "and that reminds me, why did you stop me from facing the boggart?"

"Well, I thought that it would be obvious. It was for the exact same reason that your sister didn't face the boggart."

"Voldemort..." Harry said, "I did think of Voldemort at first, but then I remembered how I felt that night on the train, because of that dementor..."

"I'm impressed. It suggests that what you fear most is fear itself."

"It's not always that easy for some though. What I've seen is not good. I can't even count the people I've seen dying or dead. The people I've seen murdered... both past and future."

"Well, Rory, that just means that you're so much stronger than some of the rest of the world." Harry said.

"I can only stand it because of the odd glimpse of a good future that I see..."

"Professor," Harry said. I was glad that Harry had changed the subject, "On the train that night, Rory and me, well, we both heard a woman's scream that night... well, there were 2 actually, one was Rory's, but..."

"Harry, dementor's can force us to relive our very worst memories. Our pain can be their power."

"I think it was my mother. But if it was, then who did Rory hear?"

"Actually, Harry, I was there that night. Somehow, she knew where your parents were, she had me and my sister in little baskets, and she was about to knock on the door but... she didn't. If she did... I doubt that I would be alive right now. I guess she just... didn't know what to do. I had a nightmare about it, and I'm sure I heard her scream, but I don't think my mother did... But knowing that she's related to me, she looks just like me in fact, and I'm never going to get to meet her... that's what makes it one of my worst memories..."

"Oh..."

"You know," Remus said, "The very first time I saw you, I recognised you immediately, Harry, of course, I didn't know about Rory so I was a little perplexed about her, but I recognised you by your eyes, not your scar."

"You mean?"

"Yes, Harry, I was very good friends with your parents; your father was one of my very best friends. But Lily, Harry, she was there for me when no-one else was. She was extraordinarily kind, and incredibly gifted in magic. And she could see the inner beauty in people, especially when they could not see it for themselves..." He paused, "But James had a certain... talent for trouble. Rumour has it, he has passed it onto you." He paused again, "Your more alike them than you know Harry. You might just see how much that is one day." He turned to me, "As for you, you're almost exactly like Lily. Although I can see a pinch of your father in there somewhere, Lily would be proud of you. She would be proud of all of you."

We felt a lot better about ourselves after our conversation with Remus; I don't think we had realised it before, but we were both feeling rather down, and hearing about Lily clearly lifted both of our spirits.

Later on that day, when the rest of the school had returned to school, we were all in for a shock; the Fat Lady's portrait was slashed, and she was nowhere to be found. Dumbledore was about to start a school wide search until someone pointed out that she was hid behind an elephant. She talked about Sirius. It had been a mistake giving him the password, but at least he wasn't a bad guy. She hadn't let him in, that's why the painting was ripped.

Dumbledore ordered the whole school down to the Great Hall. We all stayed there until after dinner, at which point Dumbledore made an announcement, "It appears that we have had a breach in the school's security today, by an individual believed to be Sirius Black. But have no fear. You will be safe, and to ensure your safety, it has been decided that you shall all be sleeping in the Great Hall tonight and you shall remain here until the school has been thoroughly searched. Sleeping bags will be provided, and we can also provide you with pyjamas if you so wish. Refreshments will be available from the kitchens, as always, and for your safety, we request that you only use the ground floor bathrooms. Thank you."

It was a little odd sleeping in the Great Hall, but it was a fun experience, like a giant sleepover.

Thankfully, Sirius was not found that night.

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**I finished this chapter yesterday, 1:40 am, annoyingly just as the router went off.**

**Any reviews this time from you guys?**

**Please?**

**Kaisha**


	23. Quidditch Match

**Okay, so I woke up this morning, and I looked in the mirror. Guess what? I'm not J.K Rowling! :O Yeah, so I guess I don't own Harry Potter...**

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A few weeks later, after the triplets' birthday, it was time for the Gryffindor VS Hufflepuff Quidditch match. Originally, it was supposed to be Gryffindor VS Slytherin, but with Draco's 'near fatal' arm injury, and the slight amount of wind, fog and rain, well, basically, they were just wimping out. Especially Draco. I wished Harry, Fred, and George good luck, seeing as the adoption was now finalised, my name was a name longer (in-between the Ollivander and the Snape), and they were now officially my brothers too. Of course, I wished the rest of the team good luck as well, and I knew that the team was very well supported.

I was very happy though, because, seeing as Ravenclaw weren't playing, Luna was going to be in our stands alongside us, cheering for Gryffindor. Well, even though Hufflepuff had Diggory, who was a strong player, and that also reminded me that I had to get working on that potion, and working on the fine details on where on Earth I could send him off to, which would obviously be somewhere other than home.

The match started at half past ten, with Madam Hooch coming on to the court, along with the (flying) Quidditch players, where, as always, she explained the rules and started the game by launching the Quaffle. But I wasn't interested in that, I preferred the faster paced search for the snitch; I did hope to be a seeker myself one day. Besides, it was the most valuable ball in the match. The Quaffle was only worth 10 points, and if the twins did their job right, there was no need to bother with the bludgers. Of course, the problem with the snitch was that it was notoriously difficult to spot. But I knew that Harry was going to find it – I just did. Whether he was going to catch it or not was a different matter entirely.

What seemed like ten minutes into the game, both Cedric and Harry were chasing the snitch, and the snitch made a swift turn... well, up, sending the both of them up into the clouds, where we couldn't see them. Obviously, that started a few little conversations amongst all of us students, but it wasn't really that much.

A few seconds later, Harry was falling towards the floor. We were very worried, but thankfully, Dumbledore took out his wand and stopped him from hitting the sandy, yet hard ground.

Worried, I quickly ran down the stands. I needed a better view of him, he was very important, and although I was confident that he would live, I still needed to know how he was, and where on Earth his broom had gone.

But then, when I was running into the pitch, amongst a horde of other students, I saw the cause of Harry's fall, just after Diggory had set down with the snitch. When he saw Harry, he did not seem satisfied with his win, and approached Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor captain, although, I wasn't sure about what happened after that - I was more focused on the approaching dementors.

To my relief, before they could do any more harm, Lupin stepped in with the patronus charm, sending them all back to where they came from.

Then, Dumbledore had Madame Pomfrey take him to the hospital wing, and he was still out cold at this point.

I then saw Fred and George heading off, further into the School Grounds. Felling curious, I decided to follow them, or just go along with them a few metres behind them without telling them first, whichever term you prefer.

A few minutes later, we came to the Whomping Willow, and I saw what the twins had come for – the broken little pieces of Harry's Nimbus 2000. He was going to be crushed.

"So, little sis," Fred said.

"You decided to follow us, did you?" George continued.

"How did you know that?" I asked, I was being quiet, I was sure I was as quiet as a mouse, and far back enough anyway.

"We have eyes in the back of our heads..." Fred snickered.

"But... Harry's broom, what are we going to do? He can't play Quidditch without it..."

"He's going to have to borrow one, isn't he?" George said.

"Then..." I hesitated, "Then he's borrowing mine. As much as I love playing Quidditch, I really do, I'm not on the team, am I? He needs it more than I do, at least until he gets a new one. It's the right thing to do, isn't it?"

"I s'pose." Fred said.

The three of us then collected all the parts of the broom we could find, obviously we did this after immobilising the Willow, none of us were that stupid as to approach an active Whomping Willow. That would be like signing your own death warrant.

After wrapping the pieces in a banner, courteously provided by Ron, all of us; Harry's friends at least, headed off to the Hospital Wing together.

We just didn't know how we were going to tell him about his broom, or how well he'd take it.

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**Okay, so here's another chapter for you, I know it's shorter than usual, but... anyway, I'm on School Holidays right now, but I have a huge workload so I can't promise another one by the time the Holiday's over...**

**Kaisha**


	24. Beginning the potions

**Okay, so I woke up this morning, and I looked in the mirror. Guess what? I'm not J.K Rowling! :O Yeah, so I guess I don't own Harry Potter...**

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After gathering all of the necessary ingredients for 6 of those special potions, those were all that I thought I would need, and dragging enough cauldrons to Myrtle's, I began the preparations on the potions. I knew that it would take a full year to brew, but it had to be done, and it would be worth it. Anything would be worth saving just a few lives.

As I was setting out the books, ingredients, and equipment properly, I heard that oh-so-familiar voice, saying, "What are you doing there, Rory?"

"I'm making more potions. But this time, I'm the only one who knows... well, other than you of course... and I really need it to stay that way... okay?" I said, not taking my eye off of my work. It was important for me to concentrate.

"Well, it's not like anyone ever comes to see me, is it, Rory? That brother of yours promised he would come see me, you know, and I haven't seen him since he rode out of here on that silly bird."

"Look, Myrtle, I'm sorry, I'm sure he just forgot," I lied, "It was almost the end of term when that happened, and it's been, what... six months? I'd remind him, but... I can't have him seeing this..." I was still lying. I wouldn't tell Harry how desperate his stalker was to see him again, "There's these people, you see, and this is the only thing I can think of to stop them dying. The thing is, I've now read a lot of potion recipes, and this is by far the longest and most complicated one. It takes a full year to brew, so some people might think it's hardly worth it... but it is." I paused, "But if anyone finds out about this, the consequences... it's barely worth thinking about."

"Why's that then?"

"I have to create an illusion, Myrtle. I have to create the illusion that they're really dead. All of them."

I then, in the middle of a circle of cauldrons, various ingredients, and the book, began putting all the ingredients in the cauldrons, one by one, careful not to miss a single step in the instructions. A lot could go wrong from a messed up potion. And I didn't want to risk a thing.

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**I know it's short but I just couldn't make it any longer, but don't worry, I'm about... halfway done with a longer chapter. So, see you soon!**


	25. First Kiss

**Okay, so I woke up this morning, and I looked in the mirror. Guess what? I'm not J.K Rowling! :O Yeah, so I guess I don't own Harry Potter...**

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Soon enough, it was almost Christmas, there was a fresh blanket of snow on the ground, and we were having our last trip to Hogsmeade before Christmas. Everyone wanted to go, to my knowledge at least, and one of the only people left behind was my brother. I didn't want to miss another trip, so I decided that I would go on some sort of walk to nowhere in particular with Neville. It was funny how we paired off like that, Ron and Hermione, and me and Neville, but I wasn't one to complain, well, about that anyway. I loved spending time with him. He was an interesting guy. But I already knew that I would be unable to celebrate Christmas with him. We were having a Weasley family celebration, although Harry and Hermione, who were essentially honorary Weasleys, were coming too, because it was my first Christmas as a Weasley, and besides, I needed to get my room sorted out.

As soon as the thestral carriage stopped, I grabbed Neville by the hand, and dragged him into the village. I wasn't even going to waste a second.

"Aura," Neville asked, "Where are we going?" He asked, I was still holding his hand and running through Hogsmeade, you see.

"I don't know!" I half laughed. Hogsmeade seemed to bring out the best in me, or at least it did on that particular day. I just felt so... happy, and I had the best feeling about a day that I had had in a while.

Eventually we stopped running because we were both very out of breath, and I thought that collapsing wouldn't be a great idea. We were right next to a beautiful old oak, and I smiled. We might never have found it otherwise. It wasn't exactly a common route for people to go on, you see.

I looked at Neville, "Maybe, this could be our special place," I said, "I mean, we found it right, all on our own. People will have found it before but... It's nice here... isn't it?" I said, looking at the tree, then him, then the tree, then finally him again and smiling.

"Yeah, I guess that would be nice." He said, smiling back at me.

I wasn't really sure what was going on for a second, but then I looked up, right into his eyes, I mean really looked, for once, and I felt as if I saw right into his heart. I didn't realise it at first, but I leaned in, as did he, until our lips met in the middle, and we kissed, our soft pink lips working in perfect harmony. I had that feeling of butterflies in my stomach, but this was in a good way, I knew that much. That kiss was the best feeling that I had ever had, and in my heart, I knew it was right. So, I pulled away, and ran.

I had a beautiful friendship with Neville, and I wasn't sure if I could let myself ruin it. At least not for a while. _Besides, _I thought to myself, _I'm twelve... am I even old enough for this?_

"Aura! Wait, please!" I heard him shout, but I didn't stay... I didn't feel as if I could, or should.

I ran, back in the other way, towards the Shrieking Shack. Hermione told me she was going to go there with Ron, so I thought that I could join them. It was too early to go back, and I didn't need anything from the shops, so that was really one of the only places I could go anywhere.

Just as I got there, I saw a very peculiar sight. Some sort of... invisible force was attacking Malfoy and some of his gang whilst Ron and Hermione just stood there. So, I stayed back, watching from afar.

Eventually, Malfoy and his gang ran off, so I walked down there, just in time to see on and Hermione pulling the invisibility cloak off of Harry. I internally laughed – I should have known better really.

"So, you finally came to Hogsmeade, huh?" I asked.

"I guess I did." He said.

"I thought you were with Neville?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah. I was..." I said. Hermione took the hint, and then left the topic well alone for a while.

"Anyway, Harry, what you did was not funny!" Ron said.

"Hermione," Harry said, "I need to borrow your scarf, to disguise myself, don't I? And your hat too Ron."

"I s'pose." Ron said, "Don't want you getting sent back to school..."

Hermione then took off her scarf and put it on to Harry, and Ron took off his hat and gave it to Harry to put on.

"How did you get here anyway?" Ron asked.

Harry then pulled out a thick bit of folded parchment from his pocket, put his to it, and said "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." And then, the parchment suddenly had all this ink appear, so I knew what it was.

"The Marauders' Map," I said, "You have it?"

"Yes," He said, "How did you know that?"

"It's complicated..."

"Hang on here," Ron said, "Marauders' what?"

"Who gave it to you?" Hermione asked.

"Marauders' Map, Ron. It shows where everyone is in Hogwarts. Fred and George gave it to me."

"Those weasels!" Ron said, "They never told me about it!"

"But Harry won't keep it. I'm sure it's against the rules. You're going to hand it over to Professor McGonagall, aren't you?" Hermione said, practically ordering him to do so.

"Oh yeah," Ron said sarcastically, "along with his invisibility cloak, his exploding snap cards, his..."

Hermione interrupted him, "Oh, shut up!"

We then all walked up towards the main part of the village. It was Harry's first time, after all.

We had gotten to the pub when both Harry and I stopped dead in our tracks, although I knew it was for different reasons.

Neville, Seamus and Dean were there, up past the pub. I was a bit pissed at myself for what I had done, kissed and ran, but I felt as if I couldn't face him again without becoming too embarrassed to function. I didn't want to hurt him, because I really did like him, but I thought that it would be a really good time to be Harry, to have his invisibility cloak at least. I would have run again, but that would have just drawn too much attention to me, and possibly to Harry as well, which would not be a good thing, especially in Hogsmeade.

But at the same second that I decided to ask Harry what he was looking at, and hope that by ignoring him, Neville would just magically go away, he disappeared, under his invisibility cloak.

I looked around, trying to see who he was following, but I didn't have a clue, but thankfully, Ron and Hermione did. They must have been paying attention to him then, which was good.

It appeared that he had followed McGonagall, Fudge, and Madam Rosmerta into the Three Broomsticks, we would have followed them in, if not for the 'No Underage Wizards' sign in the door. At least we were hidden from Neville in the doorway, as horrible as it sounded.

"Why did he go in there?" I asked.

"Didn't you hear?" Ron asked, "Fudge and Rosmerta were talking about him, and Sirius Black too."

"Oh." I said, suddenly understanding that he might be finding out about his godfather being, well, his godfather at that very moment.

"Rory, Ron," Hermione said, "I don't mean to be rude, but it looks a little odd, us being stood in a doorway. I mean, there's a bench over there that we could sit on, isn't there? It's a lot more conspicuous."

We both agreed, and sat on the bench, which also had a clear view of the doorway. Thankfully, Neville had already gone from my sights, which was a plus.

"Rory, is something the matter?" Hermione asked.

I shook my head, "I'm fine..." I lied. But I didn't think she believed me.

"Is this something to do with why you're with us, rather than Neville like you usually are?" She asked.

"Hermione... I'm feeling pretty awful right now. Just don't. And please don't talk to Neville about it either."

"Fine," she said, "But you are one of my best friends. If something's upsetting you..."

"Thanks."

"I'll never understand girls," Ron sighed.

A minute or so later, the door to the pub came bursting open, but no-one came out of it. At least that we could see. So, that could only mean one thing; Harry had heard, and it was he who had come out of the pub.

The three of us quickly searched for his footprint, which we knew he would leave, considering that it had been snowing and all.

We followed them down through the village, and we didn't stop until we knew we had found him, because we had heard him crying. The footprints led to a rock, which we assumed that he was sitting on.

Hermione then went up to my invisible brother, and kneeled down in front of him, gently pulling off his cloak, revealing him and his red, puffy eyes.

"Harry, what happened?" She asked.

"He was their friend, and he betrayed them..." He said, trailing off, "He was their friend!" He paused, "I hope he finds me, because when he does, I'm going to be ready... I'm going to kill him."

"Harry mate, what do you mean?" Ron asked

"He... he was the one who told Voldemort where they were... and he... he's my godfather..."

What a revelation (!) Well, obviously it was to Ron and Hermione, but it wasn't to me. I just wanted to tell them that it was all one big misunderstanding. I knew it was, but I just couldn't tell them. They wouldn't have believed me anyway, not even Hermione.

* * *

**Yeah - I think Rory made a bad decision there, running away from Neville.**

**By the way, how obvious was it that I haven't even had my first kiss yet? **

**Neville and Rory won't be a couple yet though - not till at least the next story. Sorry if anyone had their hopes up. **

**Well, I said you'd get it soon, and you did, right?**

**By the way, I completely missed out a chapter. You know when Snape taught DADA that lesson? I just forgot I forgot it. FAIL! So let's just say that she was sick that day, okay?**


	26. The train home for Christmas

**Okay, so I woke up this morning, and I looked in the mirror. Guess what? I'm not J.K Rowling! :O Yeah, so I guess I don't own Harry Potter...**

* * *

I spent much of my time in the dorms after the incident with Neville. I wanted things to cool off before I talked to him about it. People knew things were up, but I denied everything, and I presumed that Neville was doing the same, because nothing ever came back to me that could have been something he said.

The same continued in class. He did try to talk to me about it at first, but... he realised that it was neither the time, nor the place to talk, so he stopped. I thought that I would have a clearer head after Christmas, so I decided to talk with him then. I just... casually forgot to tell him that.

But Kitty definitely knew that something was up. She made a point of constantly meowing at me, and trying to guide me out to the common room, or to wherever she thought that Neville was. She was definitely cleverer than I gave her credit for.

But thankfully, that did not last for long, because I soon went home for Christmas.

It felt funny to be calling The Burrow my home, but, at the same time it felt right. Even though I had a room there before, which I still did, it felt like more of a temporary arrangement, which Molly agreed with. So, even though money was going to be very tight for them, tighter than usual, in fact, but it was sort of important. Besides, it was another girl properly living in the house with them, something which I was sure Molly loved the idea of.

But, things were different since I had first met the Weasley family, of course. I had quickly gone from calling Molly Mrs Weasley to calling her Molly, but I was just unsure of what to call her anymore... the same went for Arthur. After all, they had adopted me, so I didn't know if I should have started calling the two of them Mum and Dad or just to continue with Molly and Arthur. I was completely lost about that aspect. And it wasn't exactly the sort of thing you go asking, so I just decided to avoid calling them anything. It was really all that I could think of doing.

When the Hogwarts Express got back to Kings' Cross, I was both nervous and excited to see Molly and Arthur again. Ginny, Harry, Ron and Hermione were in the same compartment as me, and Fred, George, and Percy were elsewhere on the train. Luna was staying at Hogwarts for the holidays, and I was a little disappointed, I wanted her to come, but I still understood that she had creatures to take care of in the school. Chris wasn't coming either, and I wasn't surprised. She had barely been involved with me at all; in fact, I had barely spoken to her since I had moved up a year. It half killed me to do so, because she had used to be such a big part of my life, and now she was just completely absent from it. It seemed as if she would rather spend all of her time with _Draco_ and all of her other Slytherin friends.

Harry, Ron, and Ginny were first out of the compartment, whilst Hermione decided to come out with me.

"Are you okay?" She asked, pulling me out of a deep thought.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry."

"Come on, then, I'm sure Mr and Mrs Weasley really do want to see you before the train goes back to school, or... wherever it goes."

I nodded, and grabbed Kitty's animal carrier, and Quinn's cage, and walked out of the compartment. Out of the window, I could see Harry getting a hug from Molly. She loved him like her own son, and I honestly thought that if he had grown up with her for a guardian, other than his stupid aunt and uncle, he would have been much better off. Then again, he wouldn't be the same person we knew and loved, would he?

I got off the train just a few seconds after Hermione, and I was quickly enveloped into a big hug.

"I've missed you..." I said.

* * *

**Would you rather have shorter, more frequent updates?**


	27. Home for the Holidays

**Okay, so I woke up this morning, and I looked in the mirror. Guess what? I'm not J.K Rowling! :O Yeah, so I guess I don't own Harry Potter...**

* * *

We were all home at the Burrow within half an hour. Neither Bill nor Charlie were coming, but I didn't really mind very much, it wasn't like I had even met them before, so even though I felt like I was missing out, I didn't really know what I was missing anyway.

What they didn't have to do was expand their house; building a room especially for me and Chris... especially seeing as she seemed to not want to come if she could help it. I would have been happy enough sharing with Ginny, but Molly wouldn't hear it, she said that she had never had 3 children sharing a room before, and she wasn't about to start. She also said that she had a few spare galleons from the lottery win. It seemed like I just wasn't going to win.

Hermione was staying in my room, which was a bonus. It was a good thing that my room had to beds in, because it meant that no-one was going to have to lug heavy furniture around, even using magic.

Whilst we were unpacking, Hermione asked, "How are you going to have it then?" referring to my room.

"I don't know... I'm painting it blue, and I want to do it the muggle way. You can help if you like. I'm sure everyone else, other than Harry, will be fascinated, of course. And I'm getting a desk and some things for Kitty and Quinn, but... other than that, I'm not really fussed. I'm spending ¾ of my year at Hogwarts anyway, so there's not much point, really..."

"I don't know about that, Rory. After you left in summer, I had my room redecorated and I thought it was worth it. It would be better if we could decorate the Hogwarts dorms too, but... I suppose everyone would want it a different way, and... it would just be a little difficult really."

"Yeah, I guess it would be..."

The awkward silence that followed was broken a few minutes later when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" I said.

The door opened to reveal Fred and George,

"'Ello, 'ello, 'ello," Fred said, failing at imitating an old English policeman.

"Mum sent us up to bring everyone down for dinner." George said.

"It appears we've drawn the short straw."

"Ah well, at least you're only on the first floor. Ron and Harry are right at the top."

"Can I just ask, what is it with you wizards and so many unnecessary staircases?"

"What do you mean?" Fred replied.

"Well, this house has more stairs than the school I would have gone to if not for Hogwarts. And don't even get me started on the amount of stairs in Hogwarts, I swear I die every time I use those stairs!"

Hermione laughed, agreeing with what I had said, "Have you ever heard of building sideways rather than... upwards?" She asked.

"Well, sis," George said, addressing me, "There are plenty of things we wizards find odd about people like you too." He said laughing before leaving my room.

Hermione and I then got up and left the room, shutting the door behind us. We just caught a glimpse of the twins going into Ginny's room before we turned away, and went downstairs.

"I've never had a proper Wizarding Christmas before, well, with what happened last year, and all. Have you come here for Christmas before?" I asked.

Hermione shook her head, "Not in an actual Wizard's house. I suppose Hogwarts counts, but we'll see soon if it's really the same or not."

I smiled, and went downstairs with my friend. Molly and Arthur were waiting for us all in the dining room, which was also the kitchen. They had needed to bring more chars and elongate the table in there, owing to the fact that it was snowing rather heavily outside – not the ideal environment in which to eat.

"Good Evening, girls. I know you'll be hungry after that long journey, so I've prepared a feast for us all. Besides, this is a very special occasion, is it not?"

I smiled and nodded.

When everyone else had gotten downstairs and seated, the meal began. Obviously there had been a lot of work put into it. It was sort of like a buffet, exactly what I was used to at Hogwarts. Besides, it wasn't like the best lunches were served on the train. I already knew that Molly was an excellent cook from my time at The Burrow when I was 11, but now I knew it was to be a permanent fixture, everything was all the more exciting – even the chores!

After enjoying a nice, very filling meal, I found myself going for a walk with the twins in the gardens.

"So, little sis," Fred said.

"Now you're part of the family for good,"

"We'd like to know exactly what you can do with that power of yours."

"For business purposes, of course."

"What did you have in mind?" I asked.

"Not much," Fred said.

"But someone like you might be a big advantage sometimes."

"You mean to get the two of you out of trouble, right?" I asked.

"Not necessarily... You could be a member in one of our evil plans!" Fred said.

"But that _could_ be a part of it."

"Well... I might be able to do this," I said, concentrating on looking like the twins.

I could only assume that it had worked, because instead of being much shorter than the two of them, I was suddenly exactly the same height, and my long hair, suddenly wasn't so long.

"Well, little sis, this could be very useful," Fred said.

"Thanks, I guess..." I said, doing my best to return to my 'normal self'.

"We'll be keeping your talents in mind for the future, then." George said.

"Okay," I nodded, "I suppose you are my big brothers..." I smiled, "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to be getting back to Hermione and Harry and possibly Ron too."

"Fair enough," Fred said.

And we walked back into the house. Molly and Arthur were in the Kitchen still, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sat in the living room. So, I joined them in there.

"Hey Rory, where did you get off to then?" Hermione asked.

"I was out in the gardens... with Fred and George."

"Getting you in on one of their plans?" Ron asked.

"No!" I lied, "Okay, sort of... just recruiting me for the future I think. You know, my skills. They think they'll be rather useful is all." I paused, "So, what did I miss?"

"Well, Harry was just telling us that he's going to be getting extra lessons after Christmas with Lupin." Hermione said.

I was intrigued, "What kind of extra lessons?" I asked.

"The dementors..." He said, "I need a way to stop them from attacking me."

"Well, I do too." I said, "Like it or not, I'll go too... You remember the night on the train, right? I'm not going to let that happen again."

He nodded, "I guessed this would happen..." He paused, "But Lupin says it's a really complicated spell, and much too advanced for someone my age, so he might not even let you."

"Don't worry, he will... and anyway, this is one of the girls who brewed Polyjuice Potion and Veritaserum last year, I can handle it." I said, pointing to myself. Of course, he didn't know about the even more complicated potions that were brewing in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom as we spoke.

"So," Hermione said, "Ron was going to fill us in on the Weasley family's Christmas traditions... I assume you'll be staying?"

"Of course. I have a lot of Weasley traditions to catch up on, don't I?"

* * *

**Hi! So, I am alive, sorry for the wait - I've been really busy with exams - 11 down 3 to go! And Writer's Block. But, I have a huge summer this year (Free after July 2nd) so I'll get some writing done!**

**Sorry for the wait! The next chapter may be back at Hogwarts... but we'll find out soon enough. At least in this story, I know where I'll be ending up in the end. Actually, if I wrote the stories from way in the future now, it would be so much easier. But you'd be a little lost. **

**Kaisha :)**


	28. Expecto Patronum

**Okay, so I woke up this morning, and I looked in the mirror. Guess what? I'm not J.K Rowling! :O Yeah, so I guess I don't own Harry Potter...**

* * *

Over Christmas, I was quickly informed of, and involved in all of the Weasley traditions.

I made sure to use all of the gifts I had received from the Weasleys the previous year, all of which I loved using anyway. I always slept with the quilt anyway, and when it was colder, the jumper, hat gloves, and scarf, were all welcome additions to my wardrobe.

After decorating my room, painting it by hand in front of a very intrigued Arthur, it was officially Christmas, the best I had had in my life, and the first one I had had at Hogwarts where I didn't end up in a 5 month coma.

Unfortunately, this was soon over, it was as if I had simply blinked and was suddenly back at school, with everything I had left with and more.

But, as always, there was one exception to that statement – my little Kitty. Molly had really grown attached to her, so I decided to give them a little time to bond. Kitty was staying at the Burrow for another month or so. Of course I missed her, but it was good for her. I'm sure that she was beginning to grow tired of exploring every little nook and cranny of Hogwarts, and if she was happy enough, so was I.

We had been back at school for a few weeks, and whilst Harry and I had been having lessons with Lupin every other day or so, Hermione and Ron had been arguing. Actually, they had been arguing a lot. Hermione was telling me that it was all about him accusing Crookshanks of attacking Scabbers. I thought it was a load of bull – Crookshanks was a clever cat, he wouldn't do something like that, and even if he did, he would have a reason for doing it, I knew that cat, and I was sure Ron was exaggerating.

It was time for mine and Harry's next lesson with Lupin. At first, he hasn't been... shall we say, happy about the arrangement, but he could understand why I was doing it.

Neither of us had yet to have any success with creating a patronus, but that was to be expected. As Lupin said on our first lesson, it was a spell which was above OWL level, and we were both third years, even if I was one of the top students in the class.

"Ah, Harry, Rory." Lupin said, "You're a little early."

"Yes, well, we're both really determined to succeed today, professor." I said.

"Well, determination is good," He said, "But there is no way to guarantee that you will succeed today, if at all."

"We know." Harry said, "But this is important to us. Neither of us wants to be attacked by them again."

Lupin nodded, "Now, remember, you don't just say the words, you have to feel them. And it's about the memory – it has to be strong, it has to be powerful, and preferably happy."

We nodded. He went over this information at the beginning of each lesson – by now it was fused into our brains.

In actual fact, I felt like I had run out of actual memories to try, and I knew how much Harry struggled with his memories. After all, he exactly had the best of upbringings.

Before we began, I had a question for Lupin, after all, it couldn't hurt... could it?

"Professor," I asked, "Does it have to be... well, a memory?"

A look of confusion spread upon his face, "I don't understand," He replied.

"Well, I'm only asking because of, well, my clairvoyance. You see, there's this one vision that I've had. It must be a long, long while away, but... I think it could work. I shan't go into detail now, but..."

"Oh," He said, "Of course, by all means. You're welcome to give it a try. In fact, it doesn't necessarily have to be happy, or in your case Rory, a memory at all. What really matters is the fact that it's _powerful_."

I nodded, swiftly followed by Harry. It seemed like he had an idea too.

"Rory," Lupin said, "Would you care to go first?"

I nodded, and stepped up. Whilst we weren't _actually _facing a dementor, we were facing a boggart, which was scary enough as it was. Because I had dementors on my mind, that was what the boggart would turn into. There was one occasion, however, when I hadn't been thinking clear. Lo and behold, it turned into Voldy. Naturally, I fainted.

After that, I made sure to keep them on my mind when I was with Lupin – always. I could never be too careful.

As always, he tapped his wand in the air, unlocking the chest.

As always, the boggart slithered out of the opening, floating towards me.

I took in a deep breath, and as best as I could, I visualised the vision, I remembered the words, and as always I did my best to 'feel' the words... whatever that meant.

So, I pointed my wand at the beast, and I spoke the spell, "Expecto Patronum.", as confidently as I could.

To my great surprise, it actually worked for once, and there was a silvery, non-corporeal shield coming out of my wand, pushing the once oncoming boggart away from me. In a matter of seconds, the boggart was once more locked away in the chest.

As I turned around, it seemed as if it had surprised not only me, but Remus and Harry too.

"Yeah. I think that worked." I said.

"How are you feeling this time, Rory?" Lupin asked. Well, what he was really asking was if I was okay, and needed more chocolate. Not that I didn't want it, of course. I just preferred muggle chocolate. Not that I would say no if he offered any to me...

"Alright," I said, nodding away, "Better than the last few times at least.", Or in other words, 'No, I'm fine, I am not in any desperate need of chocolate... though I would still gladly accept it.'

And then, it was Harry's turn.

He stepped up to the same position as we both always attempted the spell from, and when he nodded, Lupin released the boggart.

As always, it slithered away, and floated towards him.

A few seconds later, he said, almost shouting, "Expecto Patronum!"

I think he did a little better than my attempt though, as his shield looked stronger. A silly remark, but that's what it looked like to me, at least.

And, as it had happened with me, the boggart ended up back in the chest.

Remus looked almost dumbfounded, "Well, you have both done much better than I could have expected, especially so quickly!"

"Well, I think it helped that we both finally found the right memories." I said.

Harry nodded in agreement.

"Now, out of pure interest, would either of you mind telling me about the memories you used?" Lupin asked.

Before I had a chance to respond, Harry got there first, "No, not at all," He said.

Remus invited the two of us to sit down, and then Harry began, "It's not exactly happy... no, I mean, it is, it's the happiest I've ever felt... I was thinking of my mum and dad... they were talking to me – just talking... that was the memory I chose. I don't even know if it was real..."

"But it was strong, yes?" Remus asked.

Harry nodded.

"And that was why it worked." He smiled.

"Well," I began, "Mine's from the other side of time, when I'm a parent. Which actually really confuses me because I've seen myself d-" I stopped, I didn't need them to worry, "Anyway... it's just a woman who I guess is me with a man I guess is my husband, a group other adults, and a load of them are ginger so they might be Weasleys. And there's like, 50 kids and teenagers. Everyone's happy, and... laughing and smiling, but it's hard to believe when you know how bad things are going to get... It's a glimmer of hope, and... I wouldn't have it any other way."

Remus nodded a look of understanding on his face.

It was a few seconds before anyone spoke again.

"Now is that enough for today or would either of you like to continue?" Remus asked.

Harry shook his head, "I have an essay to do for Professor Snape."

"And I have a... personal project to check on. I've managed to get all my homework done... unlike the boys. Guess I'm better at time management them then right now..."

Remus looked interested, "Now what sort of personal project would that be?"

I shook my head, "Spoilers. But you will find out... in 4 years time. And it showcases many of my skills."

That wasn't a lie – he was one of the people in need of the potion, and it was a personal project. And I was good at potions so it showcased my skills.

"But you should really have a word with Snape about nepotism. I really don't appreciate it sometimes... Even with my increased workload..."

Remus knew what I was on about, but Harry didn't. Unfortunately, Remus didn't know that, so he said, "Well that's understandable. It's rare for a student to take on all 12 subjects at once. It's rarer for there to be two students doing so at a time, especially in the same year."

I sighed, and avoided looking at Harry for a moment, "Professor, we kept it a secret. No-one knew..."

It was an awkward situation for Lupin, and for me.

"Wait," Harry said, "So you mean that you and Hermione have been doing that extra studying to learn 2 more subjects?"

I nodded, and checked the time on my phone. I checked the potions at 5 each day, and it was now 4:50.

"I'm sorry... I'll be late. I'll see you later Harry. And don't tell anyone, especially Ron, and Hermione would kill you too, so shush!"

So, I walked to the door, and opened it, I was surprised to be faced with the person I had been avoiding for weeks.

"Neville..." I said, "We need to talk."

* * *

**Well, I certainly didn't expect to update so quickly. I actually finished this last night (Does half past 1 in the morning count?) But next time, well, from the last line, I suppose you can guess what's going to happen. **

**I'll update ASAP. I really want to get this finished.**

**Oh, by the way, for that... 2 months when I didn't update, it wasn't like I wasn't writing because I was, but I was just editing and trying to finish an old story. That's it. **

**I have an exam tomorrow, so... yeah.**

**Kaisha :)**


	29. Making up with Neville

**Okay, so I woke up this morning, and I looked in the mirror. Guess what? I'm not J.K Rowling! :O Yeah, so I guess I don't own Harry Potter...**

**Okay, guys, I'm sorry for not updating in so long... but things have been a little hectic, and exams... 'graduation' ceremony... prom... going to see Deathly Hallows part 2 on my 16th birthday... going to the Doctor Who experience in London... staying up all night to register for Pottermore on the first day... sleeping it off for a few days.**

**Okay, so things haven't been that bad. I really enjoyed DH part 2, though - I think it's my favourite. :)**

**I just had writers block, but don't worry, I'm 400 words into the next chapter, and I'm really looking forward to wrapping this story up and getting onto the GOF story... whatever it's going to be called. I know for a fact that some things are going to happen in it that don't happen in the book. If I haven't mentioned it already, Quidditch will be involved, Rory will be making a new friend from the Beauxbatons Quidditch team (Who may have to transfer into Hogwarts for the fifth story, we'll see.), and we will see how the potions she's brewing are going to work for the first time. And obviously, the Yule Ball and stuff, and all the Challenges from the Triwizard tournament will still be happening, but obviously, we won't be able to see all of that, because Rory isn't going to be a Champion. And even if she was picked from the cup, I doubt that anyone would allow her to be in it anyway.**

**Yeah, so on with the chapter.**

* * *

I really didn't want to face him yet. In fact, I doubted if I ever would, but I knew it would have to happen sooner or later.

"Look... I have somewhere I _need_ to be right now, but it'll only take a few minutes..." I paused, "Meet me outside; let's say in the stone circle, in ten minutes. Maybe 5. Look, I promise I'll be there, I just have one thing to take care of first."

"Okay," He said, heading down the Staircase. I followed to the Second floor once he had gone, and checked on the potions.

They were all fine. According to the complicated recipe I was faced with in there, it was all completely normal, in fact.

So then, I headed down to the Stone Circle.

Every step I took seemed to be shorter.

Time seemed to stand still.

It was like there was an invisible wall in front of me, preventing me from going any further. But, I had to go – for both mine and Neville's sakes. I had to break through. What else could I do?

And I did. It was hard, but I had to do it. I pushed through that invisible barrier blocking my way, and I got down to the stone circle.

As expected, he was there, waiting for me.

We walked up to each other, and just stood there for a second. It was actually rather awkward, but that was to be expected, under the circumstances.

"I'm sorry..." I blurted out, "I shouldn't have ran off, I shouldn't have ignored you... I've probably hurt you... a lot..."

He didn't say anything.

"But we need to figure out what we're going to do... I mean..." At that point, we both started walking down the grounds.

He nodded.

"But... I have a lot of shit going on right now, Neville. I'd rather not explain, because... well, it would change things for everyone... and I need time..."

"Yeah."

"I don't really want anything... right now."

"Me either."

"So... we just stay friends?"

"Yeah," He nodded.

"I'm glad we're in agreement," I said.

I finally took a look at our surroundings; we had ended up just in front of Hagrid's Hut.

"Hey," I said, "Do you want to see if Hagrid's in? It would be nice to surprise him and have some tea, right?"

"Yeah," He said, "It really would." And we both smiled.


	30. About a rat

**Okay, so I woke up this morning, and I looked in the mirror. Guess what? I'm not J.K Rowling! :O Yeah, so I guess I don't own Harry Potter...**

* * *

s later, Ron and Hermione's argument had gotten even worse. Scabbers had completely disappeared, and he accused Crookshanks of eating him. It was a little bit annoying really.

We knew that Buckbeak had had his hearing for 'the brutal, unprovoked attack upon innocent pupil, Draco Malfoy' the previous night. We couldn't be there to support Hagrid, so we went to visit him after breakfast.

We knocked on his hut's door for a minute when we arrived there, but he wasn't there. We hadn't seen him at breakfast either, not that he always turned up anyway. Or that we kept watch of who came to meals or not. Besides, it was entirely possible that he had turned up for breakfast earlier on in the day than we had.

So, we went looking for him.

We checked where we normally found the Thestrals first in case he was there. He wasn't. But Luna was. Harry, Ron and Hermione seemed quite confused as to why she was feeding meat to the air, and throwing it on to the floor, but they just put it off to Luna being weird, which she was in a way, but that was one of the things that made her so interesting to be around. But she hadn't seen him.

He wasn't in the Great Hall either – we double checked.

We finally found him skipping huge stones on the Lake. It was a wonder that the lake monster hadn't popped up to say hello, to be honest.

"How'd it go, Hagrid?" Hermione asked.

"Buckbeak loved London," He replied.

"I meant the hearing."

"Oh. That. Well, I got up and said my bit - You know, how Buckbeak was a good Hippogriff and as long as you treated him with respect, he'd treat you the same. Then Lucius Malfoy got up and said his bit - you know, how Buckbeak was a deadly dangerous beast that no teacher in their right mind would expose their students to..."

It didn't sound good to say the least.

"It's Draco that committee should be punishing, not Buckbeak!" Ron said.

"Buckbeak isn't going back to the forest," Hagrid said, before throwing a particularly large stone into the water.

"Where's he going?" Hermione asked, as if she was dreading the answer.

"He asked for the worst, Lucius Malfoy... and Buckbeak... Buckbeak's been sentenced to death!" He was absolutely distraught.

"That's so unfair, Hagrid. Is there anything we can do?" I asked.

"No..." He said, disheartened, and headed back to his hut.

We chose not to follow him. It must have been a hard time for him. Buckbeak was just so friendly, and there wasn't anything we could do.

Unsurprisingly, we didn't have our Care of Magical Creatures lesson that day, leaving Hermione and myself in the Library, studying. Well, attempting to study. Buckbeak was on both of our minds, and in the end, we just ended up walking around, talking.

"Rory," Hermione said, "I need to be honest here. These classes...they're getting a little too much, and quite frankly, why do I even need to be taking muggle studies, and some of the things Professor Trelawney says... they're just plain ridiculous. So, I want you to be the first to know... that I'm quitting Divination and Muggle Studies next year, and handing in my time-turner at the end of term."

I nodded; I completely understood why she was doing it. It really was a lot of work for someone so young, and with Hogwarts, you always seemed to have enough on your plate as it was. But there was no way that I was going to stop doing the extra classes.

The rest of the day passed as normal. Ron argued with Hermione, class, homework, dinner, sending Quinn off with a letter, checking the potions and hanging out with Luna. Not in that order obviously.

After taking the first sleep potion from my father's new batch, given to me after class that day, I drifted off to a peaceful night's sleep.

That morning, after walking into the common room in my pyjamas, not hungry enough to eat breakfast, Harry came and sat opposite me.

"Lupin took the Marauders Map!" He said.

"What?" I asked, "Why?"

"I saw something... someone on the map last night... Peter Pettigrew, the man who Sirius Black killed. I went to investigate – I followed the map, but... I couldn't find anyone there. Then Snape caught me, and he knew something was up. But then Lupin turned up, confiscated the map, and he was fuming – he shouted at me about... gambling my life away. But then when I told him about Pettigrew, he seemed... different, just for a second. And it seemed like he knew about the map. How is that possible Rory?" He asked.

"I..." I paused. "I need to go see a dog about a rat."

"What?" Harry asked.

"Look, never mind. I'm just off to meet someone. I've got to get dressed, I'll see you later."

I got up, and went straight back to my dorm room. I had to see Sirius about this, so I got dressed, kept my wand at the ready, and left the castle. I figured that he could be in the Shrieking Shack. After all, it wasn't like anyone ever went there regularly.

I knew all about the entrance in the Whomping Willow from seeing it before in one of my dreams, so I used the spell _immobulus _to stop the tree's branches moving, and entered through the little hole.

It took a little while to get there, but once I did, I started shouting for Uncle Paddy. If he heard someone shouting that name, he would know it was me.

And somehow, I was right. He was in there, looking as bedraggled as ever.

"Rory," He said, "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you, Sirius. About a rat." I said.

He nodded knowingly.

"You'd better sit down then – there's a lot we need to discuss."

* * *

**So... I bet you can guess what's going to happen next. :P **

**Kaisha**


	31. Execution

**Okay, so I woke up this morning, and I looked in the mirror. Guess what? I'm not J.K Rowling! :O Yeah, so I guess I don't own Harry Potter...**

* * *

Much time had passed. Hermione had now completely quit Divination, and although she was still in Muggle Studies, it would not be for long. We hadn't had any classes – just exams. It was a little stressful, but nonetheless, we were all going out – it was the day of Buckbeak's execution. So, I collected Luna, because she would probably make Hagrid feel better at least a little it better with her wacky personality, and her own adoration of animals.

We had just come through the bridge, and we were nearing the end.

"I can't believe they're actually going to kill Buckbeak! It's just too horrible." As Hermione said that, we came to the end of the bridge, and Draco Malfoy was stood there, in the Stone Circle, looking on at Hagrid's hut.

"It just got worse..." Ron said.

We walked down to the edge of the stone circle, where we could hear what he and his friends were saying.

"Did you see the big, fat blubbering oaf? Oh, this is going to be rich. Did I tell you, Father said I can keep the head –" He turned around and paused, seeing the five of us, "Ah," He said, "Come to see the show?"

We were all angered by his comment. Beaky was a good little Hippogriff. But Hermione was by far the most infuriated, practically rushing down to where he was, saying, "You! You... foul... loathsome... evil... little cockroach..."

In fact, she must have freaked him out at least a little, because he stumbled back on to one of the large stones, and before he had a chance to move, Hermione's wand was under his chin. We could all tell that she was on the verge of doing something... bad. And, by this point, Draco had realised it too, letting out a feeble whimper.

"Hermione no!" Ron shouted, and she turned her head just slightly – just enough so that she could see him, whilst still keeping an eye on Draco. "He isn't worth it."

Hermione slowly lowered her wand, and Draco smirked – as if, even after his little puppy whimper, he knew that she would never do it.

Well, Hermione was not impressed. She quickly raised her fist, and punched him, square in the face.

That was enough of an incentive to make him and his Neanderthal friends scarper through the bridge and back into the castle.

Hermione turned around to face the four of us.

"That felt good." She said, blushing.

"Good?" Ron said, "That was bloody brilliant!"

"Still," Luna said, finally piping up, "Violence attracts the One-Eyed Flibbertoad."

"And..." Ron said, "That's not a good thing?" He asked, a little bit confused, and he probably didn't believe it either.

"No, "She explained, "Quite bad actually. It's not a good sign. You would probably be in the Hospital Wong for a week."

And then, we walked down the steps to Hagrid's Hut, passing Buckbeak on the way. He was laying in the Pumpkin Patch, chained to a Wooden Stake.

"It's not right for him to be chained up like that..." I said.

"No," Luna said, "It's not. Hippogriffs need a lot of room to stretch their legs and their wings, otherwise they become quite unhealthy."

But we all knew that there wasn't much we could do right now. Someone would probably notice 5 kids sneaking a huge hippogriff out of a castle.

So, we knocked on the door, which Hagrid opened a few seconds later.

After the trial, Hagrid was no longer the man we all knew. He just wasn't... happy anymore. He even looked... well, dishevelled. Looking at Hagrid, you wouldn't think he could, but he was human too... well, half-human. It was understandable really; Beaky wasn't just a hippogriff, he was our friend, and Hagrid's. He loved all sorts of animals, and according to Harry, losing a little baby Dragon he had only had for one day made him absolutely distraught, so I couldn't even imagine what he was going through.

"Ah..." He said, "I've made tea. You can come in if you like."

And we did. We sat at the table whilst Hagrid was preparing the tea for us, and Fang was snoring in the corner.

After he had poured the tea, and we were quietly drinking, Harry and Hagrid stood up and looked out of the window, where there was a perfect view of Buckbeak.

"Look at him... he loves the smell of the trees when the wind blows through them..." Hagrid said, saddened.

"I say we set him free." Harry said.

Hagrid shook his head, and I had the perfect view of his long... mane for lack of a better word swaying from side to side as he did it, "They'd know I did it, and that would only get me and Dumbledore in trouble. He's coming down you know. Says he wants to be there for me when it... when it happens. Great man, Dumbledore." But even then, it didn't make it alright. An innocent little creature was still going to die.

Hermione stood up too, walking up to him, "We'll be here with you too, Hagrid. You shouldn't have to be away from your friends at a time like this." She said, reaching off to pat his shoulders.

"You will not!" He said, turning around so that everyone had a good view of him and what he was saying now that Harry had moved back to standing beside the table, "Do you think I want you seeing a thing like this? No. You'll drink your tea, and be off. But before you do – I want to see you and Ron shake hands, Harry." My brother and my adopted brother looked at each other in confusion, before Hagrid explained, "You think I haven't seen how it's been between you two?"

Ron stood up, and reluctantly stuck his hand out for Harry to shake. It was a little odd to see, but I supposed that it was necessary for their friendship's survival.

"Good." Hagrid said, "Now, Ron, I want to see you give Hermione a hug."

Facing Hagrid, the two, in unison, burst out the same word, to the same degree of shock, "What!"

"Go on! You two have been at it all year. And honestly, I'm sick of it."

Hermione stood up, and slowly walked over to Ron. The two just stood there for a moment or two before, what I can only describe as, the most unwilling and awkward hug in all of existence happened. And it was all over in just a few seconds, with no real effort put into it at all. And quickly, we were all just stood there.

"Crikey, that's just about the most pathetic hug I've ever seen. But you did it, and that's what matters. There's just one other thing, Ron..."

"What is it now!" Ron said, just a little past annoyed, "I'm not snogging my new sister or her best friend Luna, and I'm definitely not kissing Fang if that's what you're asking!"

At the mention of his name, Fang suddenly 'burst' back to life, and his tail was wagging, loudly hitting the floor at each wag.

At that same time, Hagrid took the lid off of an old tin, and then the rat poked his little head, whiskers, and one of his ratty hands out of the tin.

"Scabbers! You're alive!" Ron exclaimed, delighted.

"You should keep a closer eye on your pets Ron!" Hagrid said.

"I think you owe someone an apology." Hermione said, with a hint of disdain.

"Right," He replied, in that same tone, "Next time I see Crookshanks, I'll let him know."

"I meant me!" She replied, almost shouting now.

"Crikey," Hagrid said, "Here we go again."

Then, all of a sudden there was a loud smashing sound. On the side of the table facing the window, there was a huge pot, which had now been smashed by... something. I saw Hermione examining the debris, but myself, I was distracted by another sound, a little stone hitting Harry in the back of the head, and his exclamation of pain.

And that is what caused the six of us to turn around, we now had the perfect view out of the window, where Fudge, the Executioner, and Dumbledore were approaching.

"Is that the time already? Look, it's almost dark, if anyone sees you outside the castle it'll be trouble – big trouble!" Hagrid said, leading us to the back door.

After we got out of the back door, we ran as fast as we could to behind a large pile of pumpkins.

Fudge, Dumbledore, and the Executioner had already gotten into the hut, and it seemed as if they were discussing something with Hagrid, although, obviously, we could not hear what was going on in there.

I was just about to pipe up, and suggest going back up to the castle, when we all heard the loud, unmistakeable sound of a breaking twig, followed by a rusting, coming from the trees behind us.

I turned around, but there was nothing there.

"I... I thought I saw..." Hermione said, before shaking it off, "Never mind..."

"We should get going now," Luna said, "If we're still here, the One-Eyed Flibbertoads will p" She was cut off by Ron.

"Okay then, whatever. Let's go."

And we did. We ran back up to the Stone Circle as quick as we could, so that we wouldn't be noticed by Fudge, Dumbledore, or the Executioner.

When we got to the top, it was actually rather difficult to see into the Pumpkin Patch, mainly because it was quite far away.

And then, the executioner walked into the middle of the Pumpkin Patch. If it was possible, the already silent atmosphere around us had grown all the more silent.

He had the rather stupidly large axe-type thing over his shoulder, and lifted it above his head, and in what seemed like slow motion, he swung it, presumably cutting off Buckbeak's head, and disturbing all of the resting crows in the process.

Hermione was sobbing into Ron's shoulder, Luna was looking in the other direction, and I was trying to be strong. But I wasn't. Buckbeak had just been murdered.

* * *

**So... well, we all know what's coming next.**

**Just got my Pottermore 'Congratulations' email - I registered on the first day after 3 hours sleep :) I really want that Welcome Email though... **

**Anyway... bye?**


	32. Revelation Part 1

**Okay, so I woke up this morning, and I looked in the mirror. Guess what? I'm not J.K Rowling! :O Yeah, so I guess I don't own Harry Potter...**

* * *

A few seconds later, we had turned around, about to go back into the castle, when suddenly...

"He bit me!" Ron said. Struggling to hold the rat in one hand, whilst the other had a finger bleeding a rather large amount for being bitten by one little rat.

And then, the rat fell on to the ground, and started running away as far as his tiny rat legs could carry him.

"No, no! Scabbers!" He shouted, running after... it.

And, of course, we followed Ron following that rat.

We were shouting after him, but he wasn't responding.

He finally caught it, and was sat on the floor, cradling 'Scabbers' with his non-bloody hand.

"Harry... Rory... Luna... You do realise what tree this is, don't you..." Hermione said.

And then, I looked up – we were all within whomping distance of the Whomping Willow, especially Ron.

"That's not good," Harry said, "Ron, run!"

But instead of getting up and running for his life, you could see the sheer terror in his eyes as, pointing behind the 4 of us, he yelled. "It's the Grim! Run!"

I slowly turned around, to see, not some mystical grim, but Padfoot, standing behind us.

Weeks ago, when we had our conversation, I had been let in on his plan for Peter Pettigrew, who I now knew to be the Weasley's rat. And that's what he really was – a rat.

And then, Padfoot started running, right towards us, and received quite a shock; I was catapulted onto his back after he ran through my legs, but it was over quickly, so I barely realised what had happened until Padfoot had grabbed Ron's leg, in order to get the rat. I held tightly onto Padfoot's neck, and squished myself into his fur as much as I could. After all, we would probably be going to the Shrieking Shack, and that hole in the tree was small. VERY small.

Padfoot had his teeth right into Ron's leg, and I could only imagine how much it hurt.

Padfoot quickly started to back into the little hole, so before I lost the opportunity to talk to my friends for a little while, I called out to them.

"Don't worry!" I shouted, "We'll be fine!"

They were all darting to save us, but we quickly disappeared into the hole in the tree. But I knew they'd be along shortly, so I didn't have to worry.

After he had dragged Ron along for a while longer, and we were partway through the dark, earthy tunnel, he let go of Ron's leg, and I climbed off of his back.

"Rory..." Ron said, "What's going to happen to us?"

"Look, Ron, we'll be fine. I know where we're going, just hold on." I said, taking the weight of his bad leg.

"Fine? That... thing nearly bit my bloody leg off!"

Padfoot growled, and I smirked.

"Ron, just keep a hold of that rat."

"But what about my leg?"

"Look, Ron, there's a room, I think that's where we're going, anyway, and I have an old flannel in my pocket. I can conjure some water, and... look, at least we can get it cleaned."

"Rory..." Ron asked, "How did you find this place?"

"My Uncle Paddy stays here sometimes..."

"And the dementors haven't caught him?"

"No. Those dementors are pretty useless."

I looked behind us, and Padfoot was following us, obviously.

"So... who is this mysterious 'Uncle Paddy'?"

"You have heard of him before... and he's not actually my uncle, he's... an old family friend. And his name isn't really Paddy... Paddy's a nickname of a nickname."

"What?" Rory, you're..."

"I know, I'm probably not making any sense right now, but... you'll probably know by the end of tonight. Paddy's closer than you might think..."

And then, we reached the end of the tunnel, I let go of Ron, who immediately winced in pain. I pulled myself through the opening leading to the Shrieking Shack, and reached down for Ron, but due to his leg, he couldn't get high enough.

"Stand on the dog, Ron!" I said, "It'll be alright, just do it!"

So, Ron clambered onto the dog, and managed to pull himself up onto the landing with his good hand, whilst his bloody hand held on to the rat.

"Rory... this isn't the Shrieking shack... is it?"

"It is."

And whilst we looked at the old, trashed furniture, Padfoot climbed up through the hole in the floor. Ron and I looked at him together, as he shook the dirt from the tunnel off of his fur, and proceeded to gesture to the doorway, which, incidentally, was to the same room where Sirius and I had last talked.

So, I helped Ron into the room, and sat him in the armchair at the back, before fumbling around for something to hold the water in. I could have just cast the spell onto the flannel, but I didn't want all that water getting everywhere. Fortunately, I stumbled across an old goblet, which would just have to do.

"_Aguamenta_!" I cast the spell, pointing my wand directly into the goblet, which quickly filled up with water.

Then, I pulled the flannel out of my pocket, and dipped it into the water.

"Rory," Ron asked, "Why are you so bloody cheerful?"

"Because I know we'll all be fine." I said, whilst cleaning his bloody hand, whilst his good hand held the rat.

And then, Ron looked up, "You didn't see where the dog went did you?"

I whipped my head around, and shook my head. I couldn't see Sirius, until he stepped out.

"Oh, no!" Ron exclaimed, "Its Sirius Black!"

"He's an animagus, Ron. I already knew. How else would he escape Azkaban?"

Sirius said nothing, and stepped back behind the door.

"So all this time, he's been getting in and out of the castle, disguised as a dog? Stupid dementors..."

I then pulled up Ron's trouser leg up. Honestly, his leg didn't look good, but I didn't have any potions with me that would help.

"Now... Ron, this may sting a little. If I'd have just brought a bottle of Phoenix tears with me..." I said, dipping the flannel in the water, and wringing it out before cleaning Ron's leg as well as I could. At least I had gotten rid of some of the blood.

I used _scourgify _on the flannel, then gave it to Ron, just so that he could keep dabbing it with something clean if it got bloody again. Ideally, I would have given him a fresh one, but we had to make do with what we had.

A few seconds later, Harry, Luna and Hermione arrived.

"Ron, Rory, you're both okay!" Hermione said.

"The dog – where's the dog?" Harry asked.

"It's a trap, Harry!" Ron said, pointing behind the door, "Has the dog, he's an animagus!"

Harry turned around, whilst Hermione and Luna came over to check how the two of us were, although they didn't say anything. I'm sure they were too scared to.

Then, the door swung open, and unsurprisingly to myself, Sirius was stood there, looking almost like a ghost.

Harry quickly brought out his wand, whilst Hermione, with a fierce determination, shouted, "If you want to kill Harry then... you'll have to kill us too."

"No." Sirius said, "Only one will die tonight."

And then, Harry lunged at him, saying, "Then it'll be you!"

"Harry, no!" Hermione shouted.

"Please, stop!" I pleaded, I couldn't have them hurt each other.

Harry had him pinned to the floor, he was pointing his wand right into Sirius' face, when Sirius began to chuckle.

"Going to kill me Harry?" He asked.

"Yes," Harry said, sounding more determined than I had ever heard him.

It was all going too far, in fact, I was about to run over to Harry and push him off of Sirius when Lupin burst through the door.

"Professor Lupin!" Harry, Ron, Hermione and Luna said, shocked.

Lupin gestured for Harry to move off of Sirius, and he did.

"Looking a bit ragged, aren't we, Sirius? Finally the skin reflects the madness within." He said, wand aimed right at him. But, as Harry had told me, Remus now knew that the rat was still alive. So... I just had to hope that he wouldn't do anything. After all, I was only twelve... he was a much more experienced wizard than I was, I wouldn't stand a chance against him in a duel if he attacked Sirius.

"You'd know all about the madness within, wouldn't you Remus?"He replied.

Remus held his wand there for a moment longer, before replacing it with his other hand. He helped Sirius up, and hugged him, like an old friend, or perhaps a brother that he hadn't seen in years, which was actually the case.

I breathed a sigh of relief, glad that Remus wasn't going to hurt my Uncle Paddy.

Hermione, however, wasn't so relieved, "No! I trusted you! And all this time, you've been his friend!" She shouted, and pointing to Remus, she continued, "He's a werewolf! That's why he's been missing all of those classes!"

Harry and Ron looked as shocked as if a car had just hit them completely out of the blue, but Luna seemed almost as if everything made sense in the world now.

Lupin turned to Hermione, "How long have you known?" He asked.

"Since Professor Snape set the essay." She said, in her 'stating the obvious' tone. Hermione had told me about that; it happened one time that I was ill. I wasn't in any lessons that day, so I didn't even know that my dad had taken that lesson until Hermione told me. Apparently it wasn't fun to say the least.

"You really are one of the brightest witches of your age, Hermione. Of course, you weren't the first to know..." He said, gesturing to me.

All eyes fell on me, and I simply said, "I'm a psychic...", not wanting to tell my friends that I was on Sirius and Remus' side right away, just in case something went wrong.

"Yes, he glows like the sun, and howls at the moon. Enough talk; he dies! Now, if you won't do it with me, Remus, I'll do it alone."

"Wait, Sirius –" Remus said, before being cut off.

"I did my waiting!" Sirius practically screamed, "Twelve years of it, in Azkaban! Trust me, you wouldn't have lasted a week!"

"Alright then," Lupin said, beginning to draw his wand once more.

But all of a sudden, Harry disarmed him.

"No!" He shouted, "You betrayed my parents! You sold them to Voldemort!"

"It's a lie!" Sirius replied, "I never would have betrayed James and Lily!"

I wanted to speak up, but now... I just couldn't bring myself to do it. So I continued to just stand there, watching Harry shout madly at Padfoot.

"Harry, you've got to listen –" Professor Lupin said.

"Did he listen? When my mother was dying! Did he hear her screaming?"

"No!" Sirius shouted, "I wasn't there, and I'll regret it the rest of my life!"

"Harry," Lupin said, "Someone else betrayed your parents. Someone in this room right now. Someone who, until quite recently, I believed to be dead."

"He's as good as dead." Sirius said.

"Who?" Harry said, his head quickly looking around the room, "What are you talking about, there's no-one here!"

"Yes, Harry..." I said, finally speaking out, "Sirius wasn't the rat... You really think he would he would give up his best friend? No, but someone else, did give him up Harry, a pathetic little rat who faked his own death."

"What?" He said, looking right at me, "You know about this?"

"Yes, Harry. If you must know, I've been talking to Sirius all year. Not much, mind, but I have. The first time I talked to him was the night we left Vernon and Petunia's. I knew he was innocent back then. I knew he was your godfather then. What I didn't know was where to find the rat, or, more specifically, who he was pretending to be. Harry, he's been under our noses all along."

"What are you talking about... and you're on their side? You're my sister, Rory, how could you do this?"

"Come out, come out, Peter! Come out, come out and play!" Sirius shouted in a rather sing-song way. It was sort of frightening actually.

"You're mad..." Ron said.

And that's when we all faced Ron. The rat was flailing madly, trying anything to escape from Ron's grip.

"Rory," Luna said, "You don't think Scabbers is an animagus; do you? He seems a little more... aware than other rats I know."

I was about to confirm Luna's suspicions when a loud cry of "_Expelliarmus_!" came from the doorway, in none other than my father's voice, and Harry, Lupin and Sirius' wands were all flying away from their hands. I assumed that Lupin had picked up his wand whilst my wand was turned, otherwise there would have been no possible way for it to have been affected by the spell.

"Ah," He said, his eyes fixed on Sirius, "Vengeance is sweet. How I hoped that I would be the one to catch you."

"Severus –" Lupin said.

"I told Dumbledore you were helping your old friend into the castle, and here's the proof!"

"Brilliant, Severus, but as usual, you've been drawn to the wrong conclusion. Now, Remus and I have a bit of business to attend to, so if you don't mind..."

"Dad!" I shouted, just as his wand was about to touch my Uncle Paddy's chin, "Uncle Paddy didn't do anything, and if you're so interested, Lupin hasn't been in contact with Sirius. I'm sure he wanted nothing to do with him. At least, not until after he got the map from Harry. I'm the one who has been talking to Sirius, if you're that interested, and last time I saw him, he did seem quite pleased to have some form of company. Look, dad, you have to get over this. Sirius and Lupin aren't the same people they were when they went to Hogwarts. And Sirius wouldn't have ratted out James and Lily, in fact, there was no way he could. He wasn't the secret keeper, and he didn't kill stupid old Wormtail, and don't act like you don't know who I mean. I know these things. So don't punish Lupin for something he didn't know about until recently, and look, we're taking care of it. I'm fine, Luna's fine, Harry's fine, and Hermione's fine. Ron on the other hand, well, it's at times like these I wish I shrunk my trunk down and carried it with me at all times because I do actually have some potions stored somewhere in there, admittedly Polyjuice Potion and Veritaserum wouldn't be all that useful in this situation, but I do have some phoenix tears. Then again I've cleaned his wounds...he should be fine as long as we get him into the Hospital Wing just as soon as we're done."

Dad looked at me for another moment, but nothing I said seemed to faze him. He was clearly about to do something to Sirius, so I reached for thee wand in my sock, but by the time I had gotten it, harry had cast _expelliarmus_ on my father, which had had a rather unexpected side effect – dad had been sent flying into a wall! But I had to avoid worrying about him for now, I knew Ron's leg was a situation a little more dire, and the Wormtail situation needed sorting out quickly.

Harry quickly turned to me, "I'm sorry about that Rory."

"It's alright, I'm sure he'll be fine. Out cold, but fine."

Hermione had a slightly different approach, and in a panicked voice, she said, "Harry, you attacked a teacher!"

"You said Peter before," Harry said, "Peter who? And what does he have to do with Wormtail, and why did Rory call you 'Uncle Paddy'?

"Peter Pettigrew." Lupin said, "He went to school with us, we thought he was our friend. There was a group of us - 4 of us. Me, Sirius, your dad, and Pettigrew. We had these... nicknames, which were from what we could turn into. I was a werewolf; have been since I was a little boy actually, so I was Moony. Everyone else learnt to be Animagi so that they could be with me on a full moon. Your dad... he could turn into a Stag, Harry, so his nickname was Prongs. Sirius turned into a dog, as you can see, so he was Padfoot, and Peter Pettigrew... Wormtail. Because he became..."

"A rat..." Harry said, suddenly understanding what I had been saying, "But Pettigrew, he's dead –" Harry pointed his wand at Sirius again, "You killed him."

"No, Harry, I just explained that. He didn't. They were the Marauders, they made the map. The map always tells the truth; ask Lupin if you don't believe me."

"She's right. The map never lies."

"And Pettigrew..." Sirius said, "Is right there," he said, pointing to the rat. Of course, Ron misunderstood.

"Me?" Ron exclaimed, "I'm not... Tell him Harry!"

Sirius sighed, "Not you, you idiot, your rat!"

"Scabbers?" He asked, "But Scabbers... he's been in my family for..."

"Twelve years!" Sirius said, "A curiously long life for the common garden rat. H's missing a toe, isn't he?"

"So what?" Ron replied.

"All they could find of Pettigrew was his –" Harry said, finally putting the last pieces into place.

"Finger." Sirius said, cutting Harry off, "The dirty coward cut it off so everyone would think he was dead. Then he transformed into a rat!"

Harry thought it over for a minute in his head, and then firmly told Sirius and Remus, "Show me."

So, Sirius and Remus turned to Ron, who was visibly scared for the rat's wellbeing, "What are you going to do to him?" He asked.

Sirius and Remus shared a look, just as Pettigrew escaped from Ron's iron clutches.

The two of them dashed after the rat, and just as he darted into a hole, and all seemed like it would have been in vain, a non –verbal spell hit the rat, which instantly transformed him into a poor excuse for a man, looking _exactly_ like I had imagined him to look like. He looked more dishevelled than even Sirius did, although much shorter and stockier than him, and he was quickly going bald.

He turned around, and we could see just how nervous and twitchy he was; it was funny, really, not only did he look like a rat, he had either adopted the same sort of mannerisms as a rat from his 12 years of living only as a rat, or naturally had those mannerisms anyway.

"S-Sirius... R-Remus, my old friends." He said, although there was no reply. So, his eyes quickly darted to the door, and the boarded up windows, and he made a break for it, but Sirius merely pushed him back.

Luna was still pretty quiet, as she could be. Ron was still shocked from the by the revelation that Scabbers was in fact Peter Pettigrew, who was Wormtail who was the man who had revealed James and Lily's location to Voldemort. It was a lot to deal with, especially when his leg was probably causing him a hell of a lot of pain.

In a panic, Pettigrew ran up to Harry and I, now standing next to each other.

"Harry!" He said, "Look at you! Y-You look just like your father. Like James, we were the best of friends he and I-"

After claiming to have been James' best friend, he was quickly yelled at by Sirius, ordering him to, "Shut up!"

And then he turned his attentions to me, "And you! You look just like Lily. She was ever so kind, she wouldn't let anything bad happen to anyone. I bet you're like her too!"

I cast my eyes to the floor, just willing my hair not to appear aflame, I was enraged by him. Normally, I didn't mind when my appearance changed because of my emotions, or just some sort of alternate stimulus, in fact, I barely noticed anymore unless someone pointed it out, but I just didn't want to give the rat the satisfaction.

Seeing that I wasn't going to buy into his little sob story, he looked over to Remus and Sirius again, which meant that I could once more look up, "I didn't mean to!" He said, "The Dark Lord! You have no idea the weapons he possesses! Ask yourself what you would have done, Sirius! What would you have done?"

"Died!" Sirius shouted, clearly the angriest of us all in the room, but he did have good reasons to be, "I would have died rather than betrayed my friends! And you should have realised, Peter, that if Voldemort didn't kill you,"

"We would." Remus said, determination in his voice.

"No... Please... You can't..." Pettigrew said, finally realising Remus and Sirius' Plans for him. He quickly turned to Ron, "Ron! Haven't I been a good friend? A good pet? You won't let them kill me will you, I was your rat..."

Ron turned his head in disgust, refusing to even acknowledge Pettigrew's existence any longer.

He turned to Luna and Hermione, who were both stood near Ron's chair.

"You, sweet girls, clever girls! Surely you won't let them hurt me?"

They too ignored him, which must have been especially hard for Luna, who, though a Ravenclaw, did possess all of those qualities valued by Hufflepuff, and had a great love of animals, and Pettigrew, well, he really _was _ a rat.

And then, Sirius and Remus both raised their wands, pointing them directly in Pettigrew's face. The man was quaking, and trembling in absolute fear for his life.

But, to the rat's luck, before Remus and Sirius cast their spells, Harry told the two, "No." , Determination evident in his firm voice.

Lupin took a step towards Harry, "Harry," He said, "This man..."

"I know what he is." Harry told him, "But we'll take him to the castle."

I nodded in agreement, Sirius couldn't be truly freed until Pettigrew was locked up for good.

Wormtail ran up to the two of us, "Bless you, boy! Bless you!" He said, attempting to hug my brother.

"Get off!" Harry said, shrugging away from the man, "I said we'd take you to the castle... After that, the dementors can have you."

Remus and Sirius shared a glance, then nodded in agreement. Their first plan hadn't been very well thought out at all. In the eyes of the Wizengamot, Sirius was still, and would still be a guilty man.

So, Remus pointed his wand at Pettigrew, and slowly led him out of the Shack. Sirius and Harry helped to support Ron, and they too left the Shrieking shack. That just left Hermione, Luna and myself. We followed in their path, and made our way back to Hogwarts.

* * *

**So, if you've seen the edited chapter 2 of N&S, you now know that I'm in Pottermore, as a Ravenclaw (happy to try and answer any questions by the way), and I didn't think I would find a logical splitting point for this chapter. Well... I did. And this is literally as far as I am right now.**

**It's 4:45 in the morning right now... and no, I haven't been to sleep yet (Don't tell my mum - I need to be in bed by midnight... well, tonight to be able to go for my results on thursday). So, please, can I have some reviews this time?**

**Don't worry if you haven't seen the edit, the only difference is the wands. Chris' is now made of Cedar, though strangely, Vine (which it was originally) was also perfectly but Cedar won in the end. Rory's wand has also changed, to Acacia, because now I know about wand woods, Vine just doesn't fit Rory. But that is all. **

**My own wand is Cypress, 14 and a half inches, Unicorn hair core, slightly yielding. And yeah, Pottermore is pretty cool :)**

**If anyone on Pottermore wants to add me, I'm StoneRose129. :) Not right now, though, better go to sleep.**

**Oh, and get my GCSE results and my yearbook on Thursday... I dunno if I'll even open them yet... :/ **

**I start Sixth Form on the 5th September. I'll try to keep writing as much as I can, but I don't know what sort of workload there will be, but at least I know exactly what's going to happen in the storyline wise. **

**I'd better go to bed though now... so yeah.**

**Oh, by the way, who is excited for Doctor Who to return to our screens? Torchwood just isn't cutting it for me this year... it's a little bit shitty... I much preferred series 1 and 2. Never did see Children of Earth though, (except for the last episode, which made me quite sad, so I never watched the whole thing) because I was on a school trip to France with shit food, but pretty cool museums and war cemeteries and shops. **

**The next one had better food, was at a place sort of similar to PGL, but we had less freedom, less films to watch, and thankfully less travelling. But at least I didn't find any food consisting of a dead animal in my bed that time :) **

**And enough of that... I'll just get back to watching Willow :)**

**Kaisha :)**


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